“Occupational Hazard”
“An “occupational hazard.” Rape. One of the most violent physical assaults which forever haunts and permanently scars the victim, and our military condones it by simply stating that it is just part of being in the military” (motleynews.net). This has been the culture within the military for years and still continues to be. When someone signs the dotted line to join, they are joining because they believe in what this country stands for and defending it is a great honor. Most would expect if their honor is stripped from them that the same system will be there to protect them and sadly their cries fall on deaf ears. A Department of Defense Report from 2019 showed a total of 7,825 assaults reported and that was a 3% increase from 2018. Rape is a vastly unreported for a number of different factors. In the military one of the largest factors is fear of retaliation. According to a Human Rights watch report, “It is estimated that only one in four victims reports sexual assault to military authorities. In surveys, service members consistently cite fear of retaliation from the perpetrator or the perpetrator’s friends, or concern about their careers, as reasons for not reporting” (HRW, 2015). Many individuals that report sexual assault will experience taunting, teasing, social isolation, demotion and in some cases discharges that are consider OTH(Other than Honorable). If someone wants to make a career out of their military service then reporting an assault can in some situations ruin that career. The perpetrator usually faces no charges and if they do the discipline they receive is minimal and equivalent to a slap on the wrist but the victim lives with this for life. Things may get easier but the pain from a sexual assault never leaves you. Once a victim is discharged they can receive services related to the MST (Military Sexual Trauma) but a lot of the time the services only cover therapy. Depending on the type of discharge they may not be able to get financial support or other veteran benefits because most of the time they are discharged out OTH. It is a legal battle to change a discharge status which is called a discharge upgrade and a lot of the time you need a lawyer to help you and it can take years. Over the years there have been attempts to make reporting easier or receiving services easier but nothing is working to stop the number of sexual assaults that happen each year to the individuals serving in the military. The military is attempting to make changes to policies they have in place and with the death of Spc. Vanessa Guillen in 2020 there has been a push by Senator Gillibrand to change the way the military handles sexual assault cases. The push is for the military to continue handling the cases but it will be a special team that is trained to handle them. This is a change to how the military handles the reporting but there needs to be a change in the culture of the military. What that change needs to look like, I do not know but until something changes individuals will continue to suffer in a system that should be protecting their own.
Embattled. Human Rights Watch. (2018, April 18). https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/05/18/embattled/retaliation-against-sexual-assault-survivors-us-military#.
Rape in the Military is an “Occupational Hazard”. Motley News, Photos and Fun. (2012, July 8). https://motleynews.net/2012/05/19/rape-in-the-military-is-an-occupational-hazard/.