Essay about the violence and sexual assault in the us military women

Title: Essay about the violence and sexual assault in the US military women Page 1
Workshop number 5: Essay
Title: Essay about the violence and sexual assault in the US military women
Ricardo Paulo Javier Arieu
Universidad del Este
February 20, 2015
Tampa, Florida
Professor: Roxana Galletti
Gender Psicology
PSYC 324

Image n0
Currently there are many women who are serving to her country in all aspects of the
Armed Forces of the United States. Since the war in Iraq and Afghanistan more women were
involving in combat situations. With Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the 1990s,
women began to serve closer to the combat theater. With increased presence of female military
personnel in the war fronts, began to be more and more situations of sexual violence. At first,
few cases were reported, but as the number of female soldiers grows the reports of problem of
military sexual violence in war zones have been increased. But gradually the pressure of these
painfully testimony was causing the Pentagon aware of the need to finish the increase of related
sexual violence cases in the American Us Army.
The Army website tells that women have served in the United States Army since 1775.
They nursed the ill and wounded, laundered and mended clothing, and cooked for the troops in
camp on campaign; services that did not exist among the uniformed personnel within the Army
until the 20th Century. Women are an invaluable and essential part of the Army. Currently,

women serve in 95 percent of all Army occupations and make up about 15.7 percent of the
Active Army. Women continue to have a crucial role in current operations and their sacrifices in
this noble effort underscore their dedication and willingness to share great sacrifices (Army,n.d.).
The journal Canarias-semanal.org says that in 1970, women soldiers represented 1 percent of all
US armed forces. Today that number increased to about 15 percent, nearly 200,000 in total
(Canarias-semanal.org, 11-07-2012).
Year Percent
1970 1%
2012 15%
Current Total serving in US armed forces = 200,000 women
Table 1. Percent of women soldiers in the US Armed forces.
Victoria A. Osborne, Ph.D., MSW, is an Assistant Professor, while L. Ashley Gage,
MSW, and Abigail J. Rolbiecki, B.S., are doctoral students, all in the School of Social Work
at the University of Missouri in Columbia. They wrote that women now account for about
10% of all US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Recent surveys report that women comprise
about 15% of the military of the United States and about 55% of women serving in the
armed forces are minorities. Women represent 17% of the National Guard and Component
members, 20% of new military recruits Reserve to active duty, and about 7% of the
population of veterans. Approximately 40% of women returning from duty in Iraq and
Afghanistan use VA health services (Osborne & Gage & Rolbiecki, 2012).
US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan 55%
National Guard and component members 17%
New military recruits Reserve to active duty 20%
Population of veterans 7%
Women returning from duty in Iraq and
Afghanistan use VA health services.
20%
Table 2. Currently represent of women military.

But what it means the term military woman? Osborne and Gage and Rolbieck gives an
answer saying that the term "military women" has many meanings. Until recently, most was the
description of women participating in military life (wives of enlisted men, men in civilian
positions within the military, or women in other unrelated military combat). But this changed
with Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm in the 1990s, when women began serving closer
to the combat theater. For example, women flew combat missions operating for the first time in
1998. But regardless of what "military women" has meant over the years, one thing remains the
same: These women have been affected in some way by the military involvement (Osborne &
Gage & Rolbiecki, 2012). So, these militaries women are suffering traumatic experiences in the
war being victims of sexual assault. Only in recent years has taken sufficient awareness in
government to take energetic measures to prevent this abuse against the female gender.
Monica G. Prieto was born in Spain. She graduated in Journalism. Journalist in Italy and
Russia, where she has covered Second Chechnya War, she was foreign journalist for El Mundo
newspaper since 2000 until 2005, covering events in Caucasus region, Balkans, Iran, Central
Asia, Afghan and Iraqi invasion and Middle East turmoil. Monica wrote in Periodismo Humano
newspaper that in 2009, the number of sexual assault in the US military increased by 11%. This
was admitted by the Department of Defense, while recognizing that it is impossible to know the
actual number of rounds because many victims do not report for fear of reprisals from their
superiors. Nevertheless, the Army's sexual assaults outside its ranks are given, according to a
study by the Foundation for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, which states that 2 out of
1,000 soldiers are victims of these abuses against civilians 1.8 in 1000 suffering from similar
attacks. According to a Pentagon report released by the CBS, one in three female soldiers has
suffered abuse, compared to 1 in 6 civilians who have suffered similar attacks. According to a

Pentagon report released by the CBS, one in three female soldiers has suffered abuse, compared
to 1 in 6 civilians who have faced similar situation (Prieto, 04-12-2010). This reporter called the
attention of the alarming increase in sexual violence in the Army because is outrageous and
unacceptable that more sexual assaults outside its ranks are given in the Army!
Percent of injury
Military Civilians
Foundation for the Prevention of Family
Violence
2 of 1000 soldiers 1.8 of 1000 civilians.
(A Pentagon report released by the CBS)
1 of 3 women military 1 of 6 civilians.
Table 3. Percent of injury military vs. civilians.
Cristina F. Pereda is a former US correspondent. She lives since 2007 in Washington DC,
where she was Soitu.es journalist in the US capital until its closure in late 2009. Such as Monica
Prieto, she wrote that in 2012 there were 26,000 sexual assaults on members of the US Army. It
was an increase of 35% since 2010, according to a study released by the Pentagon. She put
forward all the attention in the alarming increase in the sexuality violence in the Us Army. She
said that some estimates suggest that every day there are 70 rounds in which military personnel
are involved, although most of them are not even reported! (Cristina F. Pereda, 05-07-2013). Is
undoubtedly that sexual assaults are "one of the greatest challenges facing the US Army" as it
said the United States Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel (Cristina F. Pereda, 05-07-2013).
Statics of sexual assault on members of the US Army
In 2012 there were 26,000 sexual assaults.
Increase of 35% since 2010.
Table 4. Statics of sexual assault on members of the US Army
Other newspaper such as Monica Prieto and Cristina Pereda, reported as the number of
female soldiers grow until the Pentagon acknowledged in their own shows the growing problem

of military sexual violence in war zones increased by 26 percent between 2007 and 2008, and
another 33 percent the following year (Canarias-semanal.org, 11-07-2012).
The grow of military sexual
violence in war zones
Year 2007-2008 2009-2010
Percent 26% 33%
Table 5. Military sexual violence in war zones
Image n 1. The invisible war.
Also Univision News reported that the number of cases of sexual abuse in the Armed
Forces of the United States increased by almost 7,000 between 2010 and 2012. The Pentagon
said that US military has suspended 55 soldiers from their duties as directors in matters of sexual
assault after discovering they had committed crimes related to alcohol and abuse, also to
children. The soldiers were identified during a review of the records of directors in cases of
sexual assault ordered by the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, after a Pentagon report
released in May revealed that more than 26.000 soldiers experienced an episode of "unwanted
sexual contact" in 2012 (EFE, 07-02-2013).

Increment of sexual abuse case in the Armed Forces of the United States.
 Increased by almost 7,000 between 2010 - 2012
 55 soldiers were suspended from their duties as directors in matters of sexual
assault.
 26.000 soldiers experienced an episode of "unwanted sexual contact" in 2012
Table 5. Increment of sexual abuse case in the Armed Forces of the United States.
Osborne and Gage and Rolbiecki, health professional, confirms all these referred
information. They said that recent reports shows sexual assault ranges from 4.2% to 7.3% for
women on active duty and 11% to 48% for female veterans; sexual harassment rates ranged from
55% to 79%, based on allegations. More recent research on women veterans of OIF / OEF show
14% tested positive for MST. Perpetrators may be residents of the country abroad, where women
were stationed, or more commonly colleagues or superiors of the enlisted women. Real rates of
assault and harassment are not clear, since there are many women who are afraid to report their
peers or superiors (Osborne & Gage & Rolbiecki, 2012).
Report of sexual felony
1) Sexual assault ranges
Active duty Female veterans
4.2% to 7.3% 11% to 48%
2) Sexual harassment rates
55% 79%
Table 6. Report of sexual felony
Unfortunately not all cases were reported for different reasons. And not all cases occurred
are forgotten so quickly for the victims. An important event was the death in 2005 of the US
Army women-soldier LaVena Johnson was officially declared a suicide by the Pentagon
(Ministry of Defense, DoD) (Canarias-semanal.org, 11-07-2012). This stressing event
exemplifies the sexual violence suffered by women soldiers while serving their country in the
military. The journal says although that the autopsy revealed contradictory Johnson wounds with
the official version of "suicide" including abundant chemical burns believed were caused to
destroy DNA evidence left by the violation. According to the journal, The Pentagon sought to

intimidate reporters and editors who investigated this case, one among at least twenty cases of
female soldiers who have died under suspicious circumstances. (Canarias-semanal.org, 11-07-
2012).All of these strangers’ deaths coincided with an increase in sexual violence on to women
in the military, too.
Image n2
This newspaper cites also that according to the DoD, in 2010, there were 3,158 total
reports of sexual assault in military barracks, but that same ministry estimates that this number
represents only 13.5 percent of actual assaults, because the total number of military rapes and
sexual assaults would exceed 19,000 a year (Canarias-semanal.org, 11-07-2012). All of these
newspapers and other several publications would confirm give insight into the inner workings
and the high rate of sexual violence that has been in the Army in the last years and reveal that in
the US Army not everybody is a patriot. Some are guilty of felony. Unfortunately, not all cases
are reported.
The consequences of this sexual harassment in the Army have been investigated by
health professionals. By example, Kelly H. Koo, Ph.D., who is a postdoctoral research fellow in
women’s mental health at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC) and Department of

Psychiatry, UCSF School of Medicine. Dr. Koo completed her PhD internship at the VA Palo
Alto Health Care System and her doctoral training in clinical psychology at the University of
Washington, Seattle and Shira Maguen, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of
Psychiatry, UCSF School of Medicine and a Staff Psychologist on the Posttraumatic Stress
Disorder Clinical Team at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Her research interests fall
under the umbrella of PTSD and include risk and resilience factors in veterans, with a particular
focus on female veterans. Dr. Maguen is the recipient of a VA Health Services Research and
Development Grant that examines the impact of killing in veterans of war. They says that at the
present there are approximately 2,000,000 female veterans, and the number of women who was
separated from military service has doubled in the last twenty years. According to the
Department of Defense, women represent more than 205,000 military personnel on active duty in
2010. Women represent 15% of active duty, 17% of the staff of the National Guard / Reserve,
and 20% of new recruits, and comprise 12% of the total number of personnel who served in Iraq
and Afghanistan. About 17% of women veterans use the US Department of Veterans Affairs
services (VA) and over 50% of these women have a service-connected disability. Also women
now represent only 5.9% of all users of health care in VA, the number of women veterans with
VA care has increased 83%, from 159,630 in 2000 to 292,921 in 2009, while male veterans using
VA's borrowed increased by only 50% 0.4 The expected that the percentage of women veterans
doubling from 2010 to 2040 (Koo & Maguen, 10-31-2013). The number of women in the
military who are accessing VA was growing; so is important to understand the unique stressors
that veteran experience to prepare better for their care. Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is one
such stressor that will be the focus of this work (Koo & Maguen, 10-31-2013).

The term used by VA and DOD to refer to a sexual assault or unwanted sexual
harassment that occurred during military service of a veteran is Military Sexual Trauma (MST).
It includes any sexual activity that is involved someone against their will. It may have been
pressured or physically forced into sexual activity or can’t consent. For example, it may have
been pressured to participate in various kinds of sexual activities with threats of negative
consequences for refusing to be sexually cooperative or better implicit in exchange for sexual
gratification treatment (Koo & Maguen, 10-31-2013). Sexual activities include unwanted sexual
touching or grabbing of sexual organs, oral sex, anal sex, sexual penetration with an object, and /
or sex. There are other experiences that fall into the category of MST include threats, offensive
comments about a person's body or sexual activities, and threatening and unwanted sexual
advances. The identity or the characteristics of the author, if the service member was off duty at
the time, and if he was inside or outside the base at the time doesn’t be important. If these
experiences occurred while a person was on active duty or active duty for training are considered
as MST (Koo & Maguen, 10-31-2013). MST rates have been reported based on different
samples. According to data collected by the Department of Defense that were reported in 2011,
there were 3,192 reports of sexual assault, an increase from 2010, when 3,158 sexual assaults
were reported. Despite the increase in reports, this number is still likely to be an underestimate as
there have been an estimated 19,000 reports of assaults per year. Fifty-six percent of military
personnel on active duty respondents reported at least one experience of sexual harassment,
sexual assault, and / or sexual identity challenges against gender roles. Among the samples of
reservists at any time during military service, sexual harassment rates were 60% among women
and 27% among men; / Rates of physical aggression sexual harassment were 23% among women
and 3% between men. Among samples VA, 55% of female veterans reported sexual harassment

at any time during military service, 10 and 3% of women and 1% of men reported sexual assault
at any time during your service (Koo & Maguen, 10-31-2013).
A Sexual Trauma is a major traumatic experience for all women, however, women
militaries have more challenges and difficulties to report the incident and obtain medical care
than their civilian counterparts. So, for military women, the experience of Military Sexual
Trauma (MST) often degenerates into disorders such as Substance Abuse, Depression and
Anxiety (Koo & Maguen, 10-31-2013). Koo and Maguen have reported that TMS is a stronger
predictor of PTSD among female service members that exposure to combat operations. In fact,
studies have shown that exposure to trauma and sexual harassment causes equal amounts of
PTSD in women as combat exposure makes men. In the army, women are more often victims of
sexual harassment and assault of men (Koo & Maguen, 10-31-2013).
Also the military has recently put a lot of effort to prevent sexual assaults and report their
practices; women remain reluctant to press charges. Women are encouraged to report the assault
through Prevention Program of Sexual and Response (SAPR) Assault, established by the
Department of Defense in 2004; however, many military regulations serve as barriers to report
the incident. Moreover, unlike civilian women, victims of MST can rarely change their careers
(Osborne & Gage & Rolbiecki, 2012).
Ivannia Varela Q is journalist writer from the Journal LaNacion of Costa Rica. She wrote
that in HBO -an American premium cable and satellite television network- was presented a
documentary released in July 2012, on one of the great hidden shames US Army: rape women.
This film was awarded by the public with the award for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film
Festival. The Invisible War is a project that explores a secret that do not care to talk: sexual
assaults suffered by thousands of women in the US military. According to information published

by Europe News, the biggest obstacle to victims of sexual abuse in the Army face is that there is
no tribunal to deal with this issue, only one superior officer who has the responsibility to
continue the prosecution or ignore it. This documentary suggests that, often, these allegations are
omitted and neglected. Then of the premiere of the documentary, the US government proposed a
change in the manner of reporting violations in the army (Varela Q., 10-20-2013).
Pereda wrote that the Pentagon has acknowledged that "sexual harassment is a persistent
problem" among members of the Army and that "there is still much work to do." According to
studies performed by them, only one in 10 victims file a grievance after being assaulted.
Although the army commanders opened 3,374 cases of sexual assault in 2012, the Pentagon
estimated that the number of assaults could exceed 26.000. This information further reveals,
while the percentage of male victims of these assaults has remained stable since 2010, the
percentage of women has itself increased. Three years ago, one of every 23 victims was a
woman. In 2012, they amounted to one in 16 (Pereda, 05-07-2013). Terrible and inadmissible but
real is the situation of the US Army. It’s a sex war insight.
Osborne and Gage and Rolbiecki says that many women who are currently participating
in all aspects of the Armed Forces of the United States, facing mental health needs that are
unique compared to the rest of the female population in general. Because the war in Iraq and
Afghanistan involving more women in combat situations, social workers are with women
patients who are experiencing increasingly, PTSD, substance abuse and sexual violence. Urge
the need for social workers of the military community, can be aware of the experiences of these
military women and mental health challenges in order to treat effectively to their needs (Osborne
& Gage & Rolbiecki, 2012).

Chuck Hagel, Defense Secretary said in a press conference that "sexual abuse is one of
the worst crimes a person can commit against another" and an enemy of "the bonds of trust in the
heart of the Armed Forces" (EFE, 05-02-2014).
Image n 4
It is critical to keep the battlefront held high morale of the troops. Because you can never
isolate all aspects that shape and form the moral, this concept may be used to refer to a generic
psychological state of a group or person, of a soldier or unit, but when we are talking about
specific factors quantifiable and operativizables, they should be using them to its fair value, ie, as
multipliers or promoters moral, not as universal components of it. Psychological factors,
psychological Potential, etc, would be a lucky concept in this case. Good mental health of the
troops depends very way the success of the troop and the final outcome of the war.
The fear of losing their ability to climb in the military makes most cases never denounce.
The Department of Defense has announced an increase in reports of sexual abuse and rape by
50%. Several campaigns have encouraged victims to present their cases. The men serving in the
Armed Forces of the United States are still afraid to report sexual harassment by the weight of
male military culture and the fear of losing their ability to climb in the military.
I think that the mental health professionals of the US Army may help to illness patients
and exclaim for higher up the morality of the troops like stoic ethics levels and also that soldiers

can talk with freedom about their problems. Could the military Chaplain helps to the health of
the soldiers and to the military professional mental health to prevent the high number of cases of
sexual felony in the US Army? Sure. But unfortunately the U.S. Navy has given instructions to
remove Bibles of all similar and Inns of its military bases (protestantedigital.com, 02-05-2013).
So, Christians, including chaplains were guilty of "treason" by sharing the Gospel of Jesuchrist
and are also guilty of committing an act of "spiritual violation" as serious as "sexual violation".
Also Christians who share their faith in the armed forces are "enemies of the Constitution"
(alternativas.cl, 05-05-2013). The American Center for law and justice (ACLJ) has written to the
Pentagon about the permissibility of religious expression (Mundo Cristiano, 05-09-2013).
I finish this work saying that women who are currently participating in all aspects of the
armed forces of the United States, face mental health needs that are unique compared to the rest
of the female population in general. Since the war with Iraq and Afghanistan involving more
women in combat situations, social workers are with female patients who are experiencing
increasingly, disorder of post-traumatic stress, substance abuse and sexual violence. So, urges the
need that the social workers of the military community may be aware of the experiences of these
military women and their mental health challenges, in order to address their needs effectively.
But this is not only a problem of the women military. It is also a problem of military men
too. But I’m sure that is more important the number of felony knows did it onto the women that
did it onto men because the militaries men live a stressfully life in the war front. There in the war
is absolutely important to have a partner who will be like a brother in which can be relied up
with life is crucial. When a woman is entering in that context, it creates a sexual and other things
intention. I think that the war makes monsters of men and sometimes women become collateral
victims. The scientific research shows that women with sexual battery are more than men. And

not all cases are reported, alleged or had been confirmed. And the consequences are often suicide
or some kind of mental illness post traumatic event. Surely the American troops will thank you.
God bless to America!

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