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The Military's Secret Shame
Key Excerpts from Article on Website of Newsweek
Posted: April 12th, 2011
http://www.newsweek.com/2011/04/03/the-military-s-secret-sha...
Last year nearly 50,000 male veterans screened positive for military sexual trauma at the Department of Veterans Affairs, up from just over 30,000 in 2003. For the victims, the experience is a special kind of hell - a soldier cant just quit his job to get away from his abusers. But now, as the Pentagon has begun to acknowledge the rampant problem of sexual violence for both genders, men are coming forward in unprecedented numbers, telling their stories and hoping that speaking up will help them, and others, put their lives back together. In fact, it is the high victimization rate of female soldiers - women in the armed forces are now more likely to be assaulted by a fellow soldier than killed in combat - that has helped cast light on men assaulting other men. Last year more than 110 men made confidential reports of sexual assault by other men, nearly three times as many as in 2007. The real number of victims is surely much higher. Like in prisons and other predominantly male environments, male-on-male assault in the military, experts say, is motivated not by homosexuality, but power, intimidation, and domination. Assault victims, both male and female, are typically young and low-ranking; they are targeted for their vulnerability. One of the reasons people commit sexual assault is to put people in their place, to drive them out, says Mic Hunter, author of Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse in Americas Military. Sexual assault isnt about sex, its about violence.
Note: If you are ready to go down the rabbit hole on this one, learn about Kay Griggs, the wife of a USMC colonel and her descriptions of rampant sexual abuse among high ranking military officials at this link.
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