Even Within Our Military
Perpetrators in the military sexually assaulting women who are risking their lives for the sake of our nation’s well-being need to be brought to justice.
Turning a blind eye to most cases brought up, the American public has ignored the voices of women veterans and military women who feel emboldened to share their stories. Despite a noticeable lessening of these crimes, as they are gradually, throughout the years, being dealt with, progress should not be confused with success. Scandal after scandal, many sexual predators still fail to be held accountable for their actions in the military against their female counterparts and continue to harass and assault with impunity. In the military, women put their lives on the line on behalf of the great nation of the United States. There is nothing worse than the betrayal of their commitment to our nation by their own fellow service members who continue to violate these women’s rights and by the military justice system that fails to protect them.
There was an old and rather sexist perception of what an ideal soldier should look like depicted by Foucault:
To begin with, the soldier was someone who could be recognized from afar; he bore certain signs: the natural signs of his strength and his courage, the marks, too, of his pride; his body was the blazon of his strength and valour…The signs for recognizing those most suited to this profession are a lively, alert manner, an erect head, a taut stomachy broad shoulders, long arms, strong fingers, a small belly, thick thighs, slender legs and dry feet, because a man of such a figure could not fail to be agile and strong.
However, he speaks of how recruits grow accustomed and, for the most part, have to acquire the habit of maintaining their appearance and stature. Despite how emphasized it was that the perfect soldier should be predominantly male, it was also mentioned overall that this discipline is applied to the human body and not just to men. They are clearly taught to never fix their eyes on the ground, but to look straight at those they pass… to remain motionless until the order is given, without moving the head, the hands or the feet… lastly to march with a bold step, with knee and ham taut on the points of the feet which should face outward. Thus discipline produces what Foucault describes as “subjected and practised, docile bodies”. Seeing that the body in general can be trained, men in the military then should not be belittling their female counterparts as sexual objects but as fellow service members all there for the same reason: to fight and protect the nation.
Aside from the being sexually assaulted whether it be rape or quick grope, there are many repercussions to the women affected by their offenders such as but are not limited to sexual trauma and damage to their mental health. In fact, even after leaving the military service as veterans, they still report being harassed by their fellow veterans trying to access veteran health services. This military sexual trauma has led to over 60 percent of women indicated that military service negatively affected their mental health. Recent data from America’s Health Rankings Health of Women Who have Served Report report that women veterans have higher rates of depression than non-veteran women and a shocking 250 percent higher suicide rate than civilian women. This should not be happening especially to women in the military seeking to protect the nation with their lives. These are noble and courageous people whose last thing to get hit by is the threat of sexual harassment from their own fellow service members.
Sure, there has been work in the recent years in attempt to end this ordeal against women seeking to risk their lives for our nation, but it is still not enough. In 2017, the Military Justice Improvement Act passed, taking away the decision to prosecute felonies, including sexual assaults, away from commanders who are at times the very perpetrators of the assaults, and put it in the hands of military prosecutors. This encouraged more and more women to become brave enough to report sexual assaults, but many are still concerned about being stigmatized, ridiculed, or experience retaliation if they report being assaulted. In the last decades or so, numbers of sexual assault cases have been decreasing, but that does not mean that the problem has ceased to exist. The problem is still there and the means to fight against this crime needs to be pushed ahead in the national agenda, as their voices must not go unheard and or ignored.
While the core values of the United States military are against and do not tolerate sexual assault, this behavior is often rather ignored and even condoned. There needs to be a course of action and continued support for retaliation against such sexual predators. The military communities need to have the capacity to prevent sexual assault and related misconduct against women before it occurs. These women’s commitment by risking their lives for the nation must be commended and not violated by continuously allowing perpetrators to sexually assault and do as they please. Inexcusable and immoral actions such that must be accounted for and brought to justice.
