TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT. Rape, It's about as American as Apple Pie

[zharia]

The Enemy Within
Nearly 20,000 service members are raped or sexually assaulted each year by predators who often evade punishment. How can the Pentagon stop them?

Comments

[synthesizia]

I confess, I had to stop reading this before I was even half way through it. I tried to skim a little more, but it was way too sad and hard to read all this. The military and the police force really need to change in their culture. As much as I would like to believe otherwise, I cannot help but think that these institutions simply do not give one iota of a fuck about women. And it's bullshit because these are supposedly good, righteous forces that are alienating half the population.

One of the things that stood out to me the most when studying WWII was that the Russian army basically had EVERY capable person fighting, both men and women. And it was so effective. It seemed like they had created a kind of military culture that wasn't strictly macho or male-dominated (now I'm very curious to know the statistics of unwanted sexual assault during that military era

[zharia]

It's heartbreaking. I had a hard time sitting through the movie. They honestly don't give a fuck about women though. I know so many military men that just think the idea of women in the armed forces is laughable.

That's how militaries around the world operate. One of the most interesting things in the movie was the statistic that said sexual predators are twice as likely in the military population than the civilian population. We need to look at why this is, and why our military specifically attracts sexual predators at a much higher rate.

tbqh they aren't logical. look at the fact that they alienate our vote, it's ridiculous.

[carmy_w]

Yes. Agreed.

[kaelstra]

This is really sad. :(

It's something I've heard about, since my SO is in the military. He's talked to me before about how he's been sexually harassed, and how he's watched people harass others, and how it's basically a big frat and everyone tries to sweep it all under the rug.

[darlahood]

I don't understand why -anyone- joins the military. At all. Period.

[koken23]

Sometimes - as it was for my husband - it's because it's their only way out of a shithole.

Say you grow up somewhere. There's no education because no sane teacher would work there. No work. No money. If you want to break the cycle...how do you do it?

[metanoiame]

I'm glad to know that other people think that way, too.

[thefooliscool]

Good for you, I guess.

[tabaqui]

This just makes me so sad and sick. This close-knit little *club* that is intentionally ruining lives. Horrifying.

[jadehunter]

“We have to stop treating victims of rape and sexual assault as witnesses to their own crime,” Strand says. “They didn’t witness the attack; they experienced it. And that’s very different.”

Wow. I've never seen it expressed quite like this before, but it makes such perfect sense, holy shit, the moment I read it something just clicked in my head, like, yes, aha!

This was such a long and depressing read, but I'm glad I got through it because it is important to make people aware of these things. Plus, just the thought of these soldiers who are in combat and can't trust anyone around them, even the people who they're supposed to be able to trust...I can't even imagine the amount of stress that would put on a person