Sexual assaults are frequent, and frequently ignored, in the armed services.
By Jane Harman, LA Times, March
31, 2008
The stories are shocking in their simplicity and brutality: A female
military recruit is pinned down at knifepoint and raped repeatedly in her
own barracks. Her attackers hid their faces but she identified them by their
uniforms; they were her fellow soldiers. During a routine gynecological
exam, a female soldier is attacked and raped by her military physician. Yet
another young soldier, still adapting to life in a war zone, is raped by her
commanding officer. Afraid for her standing in her unit, she feels she has
nowhere to turn.
These are true stories, and, sadly, not isolated incidents. Women serving in
the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than
killed by enemy fire in Iraq.
The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit
to the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, where I met with female
veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that
41% of female veterans seen at the clinic
say they were victims of sexual assault while in the military, and 29%
report being raped during their military service. They spoke of their
continued terror, feelings of helplessness and the downward spirals many of
their lives have since taken.
Numbers reported by the Department of Defense show a sickening pattern.
In 2006, 2,947 sexual assaults were
reported -- 73% more than in 2004. The DOD's newest report, released this
month, indicates that 2,688 reports were made in 2007, but a recent shift
from calendar-year reporting to fiscal-year reporting makes comparisons with
data from previous years much more difficult.
The Defense Department has made some efforts to manage
this epidemic -- most notably in
2005, after the media received anonymous e-mail messages about sexual
assaults at the Air Force Academy. The media scrutiny and congressional
attention that followed led the DOD to create the Sexual Assault and
Response Office. Since its inception, the office has initiated education and
training programs, which have improved the reporting of cases of rapes and
other sexual assaults. But more must be done to prevent attacks and to
increase accountability.
At the heart of this crisis is an apparent inability or unwillingness to
prosecute rapists in the ranks. According
to DOD statistics, only 181 out of 2,212 subjects investigated for sexual
assault in 2007, including 1,259 reports of rape, were referred to
courts-martial, the equivalent of a criminal prosecution in the
military. Another 218 were handled via
nonpunitive administrative action or discharge, and 201 subjects were
disciplined through "nonjudicial punishment," which means they may have been
confined to quarters, assigned extra duty or received a similar slap on the
wrist. In nearly half of the cases
investigated, the chain of command took no action; more than a third of the
time, that was because of "insufficient evidence."
This is in stark contrast to the civilian
trend of prosecuting sexual assault. In California, for example, 44% of
reported rapes result in arrests, and 64% of those who are arrested are
prosecuted, according to the California Department of Justice.
The DOD must close this gap and remove the obstacles to effective
investigation and prosecution. Failure to do so produces two harmful
consequences: It deters victims from reporting, and it fails to deter
offenders. The absence of rigorous prosecution perpetuates a culture
tolerant of sexual assault -- an attitude that says "boys will be boys."
I have raised the issue with Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Although I
believe that he is concerned, thus far, the military's response has been
underwhelming -- and the apparent lack of urgency is inexcusable.
Congress is not doing much better. Although these sexual assault statistics
are readily available, our oversight has failed to come to grips with the
magnitude of the crisis. The abhorrent and graphic nature of the reports may
make people uncomfortable, but that is no excuse for inaction. Congressional
hearings are urgently needed to highlight the failure of existing policies.
Most of our servicewomen and men are patriotic, courageous and hardworking
people who embody the best of what it means to be an American. The failure
to address military sexual assault runs counter to those ideals and shames
us all.
Jane Harman (D-Venice) chairs the House Homeland Security subcommittee on
intelligence.