Rape culture of the military

[cattygurl]

http://alternet.org/waroniraq/52339/

[nekohead]

cattygurl, I seen some CRAZY stuff in my years in the Navy. But, I will NOT get into that.
It is true that their are a lot of CRIMES in the Navy, ARMY,and the rest of them. But, the questions is, HOW CAN WE STOP IT? The crimes? A lot of the men will get away with it while they serve.

[kwak76]

people forget that you join the army to kill.

In it's most basic form the army, navy etc is just that.
I think also violence is also part of the theme. (no offense theme) They train to kill and not to think as an individual.
I think the culture is what breeds these behavior.

[theme]

people forget that you join the army to kill.

In it's most basic form the army, navy etc is just that.
I think also violence is also part of the theme. (no offense theme) They train to kill and not to think as an individual.
I think the culture is what breeds these behavior.

Did you read the article by any chance?

[nskripchun]

The study cited in the article:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/05/veterans_less_l.html

Funny enough, it's in USA Today, the "happy newspaper". A direct quote:

The Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics has released a new report on military veterans in the nation's prison system. The data show that 29% of active-duty prisoners were being held in military prisons on rape or sexual assault charges.

Even more interesting was the finding that veterans were less likely to be imprisoned than non-veterans, but those who did end up in the correctional system were far more likely to be serving sentences for rape or other sexual assaults. While 9% of non-veteran inmates were serving sentences for rape or sexual assault in 2004, nearly a quarter of the veterans in prison were there because of sex-related convictions.

While it's hard to pick out all the details, I think the statistic says more about the harmful effects war and the first-person viewing of violence than it does specifically about the military itself. I'm not arguing that the military is free of misogyny, but IMO think it's more accurate to focus on these factors as contributors to rape:

1. The military, especially the infantry, are composed mainly of young men, many straight out of high school.

2. These young men are then inserted into a high-stress environment (WAR) that de-sensitizes them to inflicting violence on other human beings.

3. Some of these same young men have not learned to cope with their experiences in a healthy ways, especially the experience of feeling powerless (something that is difficult for the male psyche to deal with). After all, there's no more demoralizing than being killed by a mortar shell or some sniper's bullet that you can't even see coming until it hits.

4. Some of these other young men, who had personalities prone to aggression, abusiveness, and domineering BEFORE they were in the military find that these traits are praised and encouraged, and continue to develop them to an extreme during wartime. Sadly, some of these same young men often become NCOs and COs.

5. End result: both groups of young men become prone to committing rape and sexual assault. Psychological studies have repeatedly shown that at the core of rape are issues of control, power, and domination.

[ChÈ]

That was a really informative and insightful OP!!

[Tyger Durden]

Not condoning it at all, but I'm certainly glad this doesn't happen in the Military of other countries of the World. They all can rest easy i suppose and just concentrate on being soldiers for their particular countries.

[kwak76]

theme,

I did and I stand by what I said.