Sexual assault in military 'jaw-dropping,' lawmaker says

[Honey]

A congresswoman said Thursday that her "jaw dropped" when military doctors told her that four in 10 women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the military.


Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach said she was raped by a fellow Marine. A Marine has been charged in her death.

A government report indicates that the numbers could be even higher.
Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, spoke before a House panel investigating the way the military handles reports of sexual assault.
She said she recently visited a Veterans Affairs hospital in the Los Angeles area, where women told her horror stories of being raped in the military.
"My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41 percent of the female veterans seen there say they were victims of sexual assault while serving in the military," said Harman, who has long sought better protection of women in the military.
"Twenty-nine percent say they were raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and downward spirals many of their lives have taken since.
"We have an epidemic here," she said. "Women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq."
As of July 24, 100 women had died in Iraq, according to the Pentagon.

In 2007, Harman said, only 181 out of 2,212 reports of military sexual assaults, or 8 percent, were referred to courts martial. By comparison, she said, 40 percent of those arrested in the civilian world on such charges are prosecuted.
Defense statistics show that military commanders took unspecified action, which can include anything from punishment to dismissal, in an additional 419 cases.
But when it came time for the military to defend itself, the panel was told that the Pentagon's top official on sexual abuse, Dr. Kaye Whitley, was ordered not to show up despite a subpoena.
"I don't know what you're trying to cover up here, but we're not going to allow it," Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, said to the Defense official who relayed the news of Whitley's no-show. "This is unacceptable."
Rep. John Tierney, the panel's chairman and a Democrat from Massachusetts, angrily responded, "these actions by the Defense Department are inexplicable."
"The Defense Department appears to be willfully and blatantly advising Dr. Whitley not to comply with a duly authorized congressional subpoena," Tierney said.
An Army official who did testify said the Army takes allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously.
"Even one sexual assault violates the very essence of what it means to be a soldier, and it's a betrayal of the Army's core values," Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle said.
The committee also heard from Mary Lauterbach, the mother of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, a 20-year-old pregnant Marine who was killed in December, allegedly by a fellow Marine.

Mary Lauterbach said her daughter filed a rape claim with the military against Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean seven months before he was accused of killing her. Watch dead Marine's mom demand change »
"I believe that Maria would be alive today if the Marines had provided a more effective system to protect the victims of sexual assault," she said.
In the months after her daughter filed the rape claim, she said, the military didn't seem to take her seriously, and the onus was on "Maria to connect the dots."
"The victim should not have the burden to generate evidence for the command," Lauterbach told the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs. "Maria is dead, but there will be many more victims in the future, I promise you. I'm here to ask you to do what you can to help change how the military treats victims of crime and to ensure the victims receive the support and protection they need and they deserve."
Another woman, Ingrid Torres, described being raped on a U.S. base in Korea when she worked with the American Red Cross.
"I was raped while I slept," she said.
The man who assaulted her, she said, was a flight director who was found guilty and dismissed from the Air Force.
Fighting back tears, Torres added, "he still comes after me in my dreams."

The Government Accountability Office released preliminary results from an investigation into sexual assaults in the military and the Coast Guard. The GAO found that the "occurrences of sexual assault may be exceeding the rates being reported."
"At the 14 installations where GAO administered its survey, 103 service members indicated that they had been sexually assaulted within the preceding 12 months. Of these, 52 service members indicated that they did not report the sexual assault," the GAO said.
The office found that the military and Coast Guard have established policies to address sexual assault but that the implementation of the programs is hampered by an array of factors, including that "most, but not all, commanders support the programs."
"Left unchecked, these challenges can discourage or prevent some service members from using the programs when needed," the GAO said.
Tierney said, "what's at stake here goes to the very core of the values of the military and the nation itself.
"When our sons and daughters put their lives on the line to defend the rest of us, the last thing they should fear is being attacked by one of our own."

Sexual assault in military 'jaw-dropping,' lawmaker says - CNN.com

[Sarzy]

Absolutely disgusting. Those men should be ashamed of themselves.

[Beefy McWoof]

I think it's hilarious how the committee yelled at Whitey's superior, and then told him to fuck off.

In brief; "We didn't fucking ask for you, we asked for for Dr. Whitey! Who the fuck do you think you are? Get out of here!"

[McJag]

They need to come down on men doing this like a ton of bricks-see how quickly it stops.

[Hummus]

That is very sad, nobody should have to fear sexual assault.

[AliceInWonderland]

thats military men for ya.

*leaves thread*

[Buffy Burnett]

Hate to say it but this isn't too surprising considering that the military has been really scraping the bottom of society's barrel for recruits. For ince, they'll reject gays but let in criminals.

[gogodancer]

This shouldn't surprise anyone. Even before they started taking anybody who was willing to go, men in the military had higher than normal incidents of sexual assault, domestic violence and domestic homicide. All that testosterone and rage has to go somewhere.

[Lobelia]

What country are you talking about?

[gogodancer]

It seems to be right across the board, but I've heard the U.S. and Canada mentioned most recently. Oprah has done some shows about it, and I've seen some news reports. The same thing happens to a lot of cops -- domestic violence is a big, big problem.

[Buffy Burnett]

What country are you talking about?

Sorry, United States.

[gogodancer]

Oops. Sorry, I thought the other poster was talking to me.

[sputnik]

Hate to say it but this isn't too surprising considering that the military has been really scraping the bottom of society's barrel for recruits. For ince, they'll reject gays but let in criminals.

thats military men for ya.

*leaves thread*

exactly. to say i'm not surprised would be the understatement of the year.

not surprised to hear domestic violence is a huge problem among cops and military too. or basically any line of work where being macho and 'manliness' are exalted. i think they'd have to incorporate gender equality and feminism into the brainwashing and indoctrination, uh, i mean training.

[Novice]

Well, if the US manages to prosecute 40% of sexual asaullts outside the mititary, you're doing better than the UK where its 4/5%.
As another poster pointed out a number of recruits join because their home life is disifunctional; look how many are homeless upon leaving the mititary.
I also think that there is a history of these assaults "not being taken seriously' and cultures change much more slowly in a closed enviroment.

Hopefully things will improve now.

[Sarzy]

Hate to say it but this isn't too surprising considering that the military has been really scraping the bottom of society's barrel for recruits. For ince, they'll reject gays but let in criminals.

Do they not allow gay people to join in the US? They didn't over here for a long time, but they do now.