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Rapes Reported by Servicewomen in the Persian Gulf and Elsewhere
NY Times ^

Posted on 02/26/2004 5:25:47 AM PST by Happy2BMe


February 26, 2004

Rapes Reported by Servicewomen in the Persian Gulf and Elsewhere

By ERIC SCHMITT

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 — The United States military is facing the gravest accusations of sexual misconduct in years, with dozens of servicewomen in the Persian Gulf area and elsewhere saying they were sexually assaulted or raped by fellow troops, lawmakers and victims advocates said on Wednesday.

There have been 112 reports of sexual misconduct over roughly the past 18 months in the Central Command area of operations, which includes Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, military officials said on Wednesday.

The Army has reported 86 incidents, the Navy 12, the Air Force 8 and the Marine Corps 6.

Military officials said that the bulk of the charges were being investigated and that some had already resulted in disciplinary actions, but they could not provide specifics. They said a small number of the reports had turned out to be unfounded.

In addition, about two dozen women at Sheppard Air Force Base, a large training facility in Texas, have reported to a local rape-crisis center that they were assaulted in 2002. The Air Force Academy in Colorado is still reeling from the disclosure last year of more than 50 reported assaults or rapes over the last decade.

The latest accusations are the most extensive set of sexual misconduct charges since the Navy's Tailhook incident of 1991 and the Army's drill sergeant scandal about five years later. In response, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld this month ordered a senior-level inquiry into the reported sexual assaults in Iraq and Kuwait, and how the armed services treats victims of sexual attacks. The Army and Air Force have opened similar investigations.

The issue came to a boil at a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, where Senate Democrats and Republicans sharply questioned the Pentagon's top personnel official and four four-star officers for what the lawmakers said were lapses in the military's ability to protect servicewomen from sexual assaults, to provide medical care and counseling to victims of attacks and to punish violators.

Lawmakers said they were particularly appalled by reports that women serving in roles from military police to helicopter pilots had been assaulted by male colleagues in remote combat zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, where immediate medical treatment and a sense of justice seemed to be lacking.

"No war comes without cost, but the cost should be born out of conflict with the enemy, and not because of egregious violations by some of our own troops," said Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican on the Armed Services personnel subcommittee.

Senator Ben Nelson, Democrat of Nebraska, voiced concern that senior Pentagon leaders had not sufficiently addressed the problem. "I don't get a sense of outrage by military leadership," Mr. Nelson said.

The Pentagon's personnel chief, David S. C. Chu, assured the lawmakers that the Defense Department was treating the issue seriously and that "all policies are on the table" as part of the 90-day review, whose findings and recommendations are due by April 30.

He said the immediate priority would be to provide better care to assault victims.

In an effort to blunt criticism that the defense officials were not doing enough to address the issue, the Pentagon moved up the release of a Congressionally mandated survey conducted in 2002 — a period before most of the latest rash of complaints occurred — that found that the number of servicewomen who said they had been sexually assaulted had declined to 3 percent from 6 percent in 1995, when the last survey was taken.

But some senators questioned the survey's methodology and timing. "Why in the world did it take two years to take a survey?" asked Senator John W. Warner, a Virginia Republican who heads the full committee, noting that politicians routinely ordered overnight polls for their campaigns.

The latest sexual assault scandals have burst into full public view largely because of a recent series of investigative articles by The Denver Post and growing pressure from lawmakers, especially from women in Congress like Senator Collins and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican of Texas.

But the numbers of reported assaults revealed on Wednesday exceeded the scope of what the Post articles had described. Christine Hansen, executive director of The Miles Foundation, a victims' advocacy group in Newtown, Conn., told senators at the hearing that it had received reports of 68 cases of sexual assault, mainly from servicewomen in Iraq and Kuwait.

The women's complaints ranged from the lack of emergency medical care and rape kits, to incomplete criminal investigations into their reports to retaliation by peers for reporting an assault, she said.

"We may just be beginning to see what the problem is," Ms. Hansen said in a telephone interview after the hearing.

The reported assaults have produced action and reviews in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

At a budget hearing before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Acting Army Secretary Les Brownlee said in response to a question that many sexual assaults went unreported. "We don't want that," Mr. Brownlee said. "We want an environment where these young women will feel free to report."

Senior officials from all the services said they were reviewing and, in some cases, increasing their training. Gen. William L. Nyland, the assistant Marine Corps commandant, told senators that beginning March 1, all newly enlisted marines will receive sexual-assault awareness and prevention training. Marine officers already receive the instruction.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: assault; ccrm; feminism; military; militarywomen; rape; rapes; women
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No surprises here.
1 posted on 02/26/2004 5:25:47 AM PST by Happy2BMe
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To: Happy2BMe
Hmmm. 112 military women have reported sexual assaults or rapes in the Persian Gulf in 18 montha. That is out of more than 60,000 women who are stationed in and around the Gulf with the military.

Compare those numbers to a study released just last week by Harvard that stated “almost one in 20 (4.7 percent) of women reported being raped, and 72 percent of the victims reported being intoxicated while being raped.” So, about 5% of our college women are being raped, not including those who were sexually assaulted, which would make the percentage even higher.

If you apply the 5% number to the 60,000 women stationed in the Gulf, we should be seeing 3,000 reported rapes. But we have only seen 112 according to the New York Times. In other words, our military women are far more safe from sexual assault and rape than our college women. And, by deduction, our military men are far more mature, professional and respectful of women than our college men. But then, we already knew that. Just don’t count on the Times or any other newspaper to report the comparison.
2 posted on 02/26/2004 5:58:35 AM PST by meisterbrewer
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To: Timesink; *CCRM; governsleastgovernsbest; martin_fierro; reformed_democrat; Loyalist; ...
Revived Media Shenanigans ping - Apparently, The New York Times (Eric Schmitt) needs a fill-in "cause" until Martha Burk begins anew her annual spring jihad against Hootie & the Masters

On, Off, or grab it for a Media Shenanigans/Schadenfreude ping:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~anamusedspectator/

3 posted on 02/26/2004 7:01:09 AM PST by an amused spectator (articulating AAS' thoughts on FR since 1997)
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To: Happy2BMe
The Intellectual dishonesty of NYT is amazing. They dismissed all the concerns about the role of women in the military when the issue of gender integration was first proposed, totally ignoring the ugly truths of our basically flawed human nature, and now they fault the military. I'm not making any excuses for rapists - they need to be severely dealt with, but this is another case of 'Be careful what you ask for - you just might get it'!

The liberal arrogance of thinking they know better than thousands of years of accumulated history and wisdom is maddening. This is only another example of it.
4 posted on 02/26/2004 7:21:06 AM PST by SolutionsOnly
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To: Happy2BMe
We could always, y'know, bar women and homosexuals from serving in the military.

But, of course, that would be too obvious.
5 posted on 02/26/2004 8:05:58 AM PST by MegaSilver
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Comment #6 Removed by Moderator

Comment #7 Removed by Moderator

To: audrey h
You must have a lot of time to waste.
8 posted on 02/26/2004 11:40:42 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
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Comment #9 Removed by Moderator

Comment #10 Removed by Moderator

To: Admin Moderator
Looks like betsy b, er vixen w, er whatever its name is, is back! Look for spam freepmails coming to an inbox near you!
11 posted on 02/26/2004 11:41:45 AM PST by rintense
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To: audrey h
SKYBIRD SKYBIRD DO NOT ANSWER

SKYBIRD SKYBIRD DO NOT ANSWER

EMERGENCY ACTION MESSAGE FOLLOWS

COMMAND WORD: COTTONMOUTH
DESIGNATOR: JERICHO
DAY WORD: TRINITY

ZOT PER SIOP OPTION TWO ONE ZEBRA "GRAND TOUR"

AUTHENTICATOR: VIKING KITTENS ARE OUR OVERLORDS

EMERGENCY ACTION MESSAGE ENDS

BT



NNNN
12 posted on 02/26/2004 11:42:10 AM PST by Poohbah ("Would you mind not shooting at the thermonuclear weapons?" -- Maj. Vic Deakins, USAF)
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To: audrey h; Admin Moderator
Troll Alert??
13 posted on 02/26/2004 11:42:19 AM PST by trussell (Member: Viking Kitty Society;New Charter member: Troll Patrol...See EggsAckley for membership.)
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To: audrey h
Get a frinking life would you. You will find out that I really am not a very nice person
14 posted on 02/26/2004 11:43:00 AM PST by boxerblues (If you can read this.. Thank a Teacher..If you can read this in English ..Thank a US Soldier)
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To: audrey h; Admin Moderator; Zavien Doombringer; 4mycountry; Constitution Day; VRWCmember; Poohbah; ..
Were you born stupid, or did you have to work at it?
15 posted on 02/26/2004 11:43:09 AM PST by mhking
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To: audrey h
We are winning ~ the bad guys are losing ~ trolls, terrorists and the democrats are sad ~ very sad!

~~ Bush/Cheney 2004 ~~

16 posted on 02/26/2004 11:43:17 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: audrey h
STFU
17 posted on 02/26/2004 11:43:59 AM PST by Constitution Day
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To: trussell
My goodness. What's the matter with these trolls? I'm sitting here minding my own business and I'm getting all these posts and emails from some confused individuals. What's the matter; you can't listen to Howard Stern today so you vent elsewhere? Sheesh!
18 posted on 02/26/2004 11:44:12 AM PST by giznort
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To: Poohbah
Fast. You're fast.

But not as fast as the Admin Mod!

19 posted on 02/26/2004 11:44:51 AM PST by metesky ("Brethren, leave us go amongst them." Rev. Capt. Samuel Johnston Clayton - Ward Bond- The Searchers)
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To: rintense
Look for spam freepmails coming to an inbox near you!

rintense, you must be psychic!!

Why I just received.....another one!

20 posted on 02/26/2004 11:45:10 AM PST by EGPWS
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