Military Rape: Rampant, Ignored

[Karmadillo]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/7317/military_rape_rampant_ignored

Military Rape: Rampant, Ignored
A lawsuit against Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld and new legislation try to stop an epidemic.
By Nan Levinson

When Panayiota Bertzikis tried to tell her commanding officers that she had been raped in May 2006 by a shipmate four months into her tour at the Burlington, Vt., Coast Guard Station, they discouraged her from talking to an Equal Opportunity officer, barred her from seeing a civilian therapist, ignored a written confession from her attacker and browbeat her into silence.

But thanks to victims-turned-activists like Bertzikis who are pulling military sexual trauma (MST) out from the shadows, it’s become harder for the U.S. military to ignore the problem. In February, Bertzikis, along with 14 other women and two men, filed a lawsuit (Cioca et al. v. Rumsfeld and Gates) charging Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, with mishandling their sexual assault cases.

MST is an epidemic. Nearly a quarter of women serving in combat areas say they have been sexually assaulted by fellow soldiers. But everyone agrees that reliable statistics don’t exist. The Pentagon, which recorded 3,158 cases of sexual assault in 2010, estimates that only about 14 percent of all incidents are reported.

Back in 2006, when Bertzikis went online after her rape to look for help, she found almost no information. But when she blogged about her experience, stories similar to hers poured in. In response, Bertzikis—who left the Coast Guard in 2007 and is now 29—set up the Military Rape Crisis Center in Cambridge, Mass. She estimates the organization has provided 6,200 people with counseling, legal advocacy and case management—along with the assurance that they are not alone.

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[leftstreet]

1. I don't get it. Armed women, combat trained....hello?!

:shrug:

[demigoddess]

7. women can't fight back or shoot the guy, they would be crucified

by the system. This stuff has been going on for years. When i wanted to go into the military when I was a kid, my dad who was career military, just about turned green at the thought. That was many, many, many years ago. In the eighties I lived in a military town. A female in the army was found dead and raped in town. And the town had a very low crime rate. And it doesn't matter how you can fight back if there are several of them.

[jp11]

10. It is possible to get the better of someone who knows how to fight and while I don't have

data on all military rapes I doubt it happens primarily when soldiers are carrying a loaded weapon facing another soldier with a loaded weapon.

[BlueIris]

2. Still one of the most awful things in the world today.

And I can't come up with anything I would call a potential solution for it.

[Lint Head]

3. This woman is a hero.

[ZombieHorde]

4. I am not really surprised by this.

If you want an effective, volunteer death squad, your going to attract some disturbingly violent people.

I am going to teach my daughter to never join the military.

[readmoreoften]

5. Correction. You are going to create some disturbingly violent people.

The vast majority of the people attracted to the military are fairly normal. It takes not only the attraction of violent people, but the normalization of violence for average people to have rape so widespread and acceptable.

[RebelOne]

6. This has been addressed by several women

Representatives in the House, But it seems that this issue has been ignored.

[BlueIris]

8. Kick. For things which are rampant and ignored. nt

[seabeyond]

9. fbi tells us rape is down 85% since 70's. people actually believe it and whenever this issue is

discussed we are told we should feel good, rape has significantly dropped. then discussion is over and the person quoting the number doesnt have to concern themselves again.

the number is a lie. fbi states it is as they leave it up. officials across the nation explain why it is a lie. but there is a group of people (men) that continually quote the numbers.

maybe we ought to work at seeing there is even a problem, instead of being comforted with untruth.

[Karmadillo]

11. Kick.

nt