Military Men Overlooked in Assault Debate

[FriendlyFire]

In Debate Over Military Sexual Assault, Men Are Overlooked Victims

Sexual assault has emerged as one of the defining issues for the military this year. Reports of assaults are up, as are questions about whether commanders have taken the problem seriously. Bills to toughen penalties and prosecution have been introduced in Congress.

In its latest report on sexual assault, the Pentagon estimated that 26,000 service members experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012, up from 19,000 in 2010. Of those cases, the Pentagon says, 53 percent involved attacks on men, mostly by other men.

....

In interviews, nearly a dozen current and former service members who said they were sexually assaulted in the military described fearing that they would be punished, ignored or ridiculed if they reported the attacks. Most said that before 2011, when the ban on openly gay service members was repealed, they believed they would have been discharged if they admitted having sexual contact — even unwanted contact — with other men.

....

Many sexual assaults on men in the military seem to be a form of violent hazing or bullying, said Roger Canaff, a former New York State prosecutor who helped train prosecutors on the subject of military sexual assault for the Pentagon. “The acts seemed less sexually motivated than humiliation or torture-motivated,” he said.

But such attacks can be deeply traumatizing, causing men to question their sexuality or view themselves as weak. Some said their own families seemed ashamed of them.

After he returned to Washington, he received a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and was discharged from the Army in 2006. He struggled with depression and lost a job, then decided to start an advocacy group for veterans.

“A lot of people say this problem exists because we are allowing women into the military or because of the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ ” he said, referring to the ban on openly gay service members. “But that is absurd. The people who perpetrated these crimes on me identify as heterosexual males.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/24/u...-overlooked-victims.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp

ummmm ..... What the hell ?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Sounds like the US military is really no different than the US penal system in this regard.

And before someone tries to blame DADT, here are even more facts from the article that paint a different picture altogether:

Thomas F. Drapac says he was raped on three occasions by higher-ranking enlisted sailors in Norfolk in 1966. He said he had been drinking each time and feared that if he told prosecutors they would assume it was consensual sex. Parts of his story are corroborated in Department of Veterans Affairs records.

"If you made a complaint, then you are gay and you’re out and that’s it,” he said.

Mr. Drapac, 66, said that over the coming decades he kept the rapes to himself, combating recurring nightmares and doubts about his sexuality with alcohol and drugs. But he began seeing a Department of Veterans Affairs therapist several years ago, and decided to tell his story recently after seeing accounts of female sexual assault victims.

“The best thing going on right now is that the women’s issue is coming to the fore and you see some mention about male rapes,” he said.

 

[illram]

It's the military so it's a macho culture; it's not just the gay stigma, it's the stigma of being a man who got raped. I.e. the stigma that you're weak, a "wuss," etc.

I don't see that every changing even without DADT. It's the military, one of the primary goals (correct me if I am wrong, military folks) of the military is to train people to kill other people, so the macho thing sort of naturally flows along with that. Not saying that's right but there is only so much we can do on that front. Even without DADT.

To me, a possible short term solution is something analogous to run of the mill civil tort procedures, protections and punishments for sexual harassment. I.e. not just punishing the harasser, but establishing procedures for privacy, anonymous reporting, protections of the reportee from retaliation, punishing retaliation severely, accommodating reportee with whatever they need to try and lead some semblance of a normal military career, less biased & more objective hearing procedures, etc. etc.. Not sure if something like that exists but it would be a start.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

It's the military so it's a macho culture; it's not just the gay stigma, it's the stigma of being a man who got raped. I.e. the stigma that you're weak, a "wuss," etc.

I don't see that every changing even without DADT. It's the military, one of the primary goals (correct me if I am wrong, military folks) of the military is to train people to kill other people, so the macho thing sort of naturally flows along with that..

It's the need to dominate. That's always been the motive behind rape. It's never been about the sex-as-sex act. Humiliation and dominance, whether it's male or female, against males or females.

One should not be surprised that such a highly structured hierarchy as the military, where one is expected to, and expects others to, obey without thought or question, creates such people.

 

[illram]

Yes, I agree. Which is why this is such a tough problem. It's very similar to the prison rape culture. It's not a gay/straight thing. It's really two separate issues.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Prisons in other modern countries don't seem to have this problem, at least nearly as much as US prisons do. Are all military forces the same in this regard? Are Norwegian soldiers just as likely to have been raped while serving their country as American soldiers ostensibly are?

 

[timtofly]

I would point out that americans have an "I don't care" attitude, but I already did that in another thread.

 

[MobBoss]

One should not be surprised that such a highly structured hierarchy as the military, where one is expected to, and expects others to, obey without thought or question, creates such people.

I assure you, this is more of a Hollywood creation than what is actually reality.

If anything, its more an expression of self-defined elitism than a desire to dominate.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

If anything, its more an expression of self-defined elitism than a desire to dominate.

That's the same thing.

 

[MobBoss]

That's the same thing.

No, its not at all.

 

[Perfection]

Says the overlord...

 

[MobBoss]

Says the overlord...

Perf, if my intention was to dominate you, you'd know it.

 

[civ_king]

ummmm ..... What the hell ?

You didn't know? It's like that in society in general.

It's the military so it's a macho culture; it's not just the gay stigma, it's the stigma of being a man who got raped. I.e. the stigma that you're weak, a "wuss," etc.

I don't see that every changing even without DADT. It's the military, one of the primary goals (correct me if I am wrong, military folks) of the military is to train people to kill other people, so the macho thing sort of naturally flows along with that. Not saying that's right but there is only so much we can do on that front. Even without DADT.

To me, a possible short term solution is something analogous to run of the mill civil tort procedures, protections and punishments for sexual harassment. I.e. not just punishing the harasser, but establishing procedures for privacy, anonymous reporting, protections of the reportee from retaliation, punishing retaliation severely, accommodating reportee with whatever they need to try and lead some semblance of a normal military career, less biased & more objective hearing procedures, etc. etc.. Not sure if something like that exists but it would be a start.

Men also don't want to admit that men as tough as them can be rendered helpless and violated.

It's the need to dominate. That's always been the motive behind rape. It's never been about the sex-as-sex act. Humiliation and dominance, whether it's male or female, against males or females.

One should not be surprised that such a highly structured hierarchy as the military, where one is expected to, and expects others to, obey without thought or question, creates such people.

Not necessarily, but in military situations it is almost always about power.


As a male who was raped/sexually assaulted (rape requires penetration, envelopment isn't technically rape) I can empathize with him.

 

[MobBoss]

I'd just like to point out that in the US women basically can't rape men, rape requires penetration.

No, it doesn't. It's defined in most states as 'forcible sexual relations against ones will' or 'unlawful sexual intercourse'.

It's not predicated by penetration.

 

[civ_king]

No, it doesn't. It's defined in most states as 'forcible sexual relations against ones will' or 'unlawful sexual intercourse'.

It's not predicated by penetration.

My state requires penetration for it to be rape, so does the FBI.

 

[timtofly]

So we can have equality in marriage, but not in rape?

 

[Kyriakos]

Actually a sort of rape of men by less than good-looking women - or at least very unwilling sex- was the main theme of one of Aristophanes' comedies In Greek the play is called Θεσμοφοριάζουσαι.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thesmophoriazusae

 

[Aleksey_aka_al]

When I told here, a few years ago, about an obligatory homosexual contact each year (which awaits all Earthlings in the nearest future) they gave me a card for trolling...

 

[Agent327]

OP: “The acts seemed less sexually motivated than humiliation or torture-motivated,”

Stating the obvious, but "sexual assault" only describes the type of assault. There's nothing gay about sexual assault, it's violence with a sexual component. Most sexual asault victims feel humiliated, which is the prime motive of the assault.

 

[JollyRoger]

My state requires penetration for it to be rape, so does the FBI.

Penetration could be more broadly defined than you are thinking. It seems that you may be focusing too exclusively on penises here.