Earlier this year, the Pentagon announced to the public that 26,000 cases of sexual assault were reported in the military last year. This is not only an ongoing problem in the U.S., but also a growing one. Reports show that the number of reported cases has increased 37%. Understanding how great of an issue this has become, the government is now stepping in to find a solution.
As of now, the system for reporting sexual assault works in a way that allows the problem to continue. In the armed forces, a victim must report the case to the military commander, not to the police. As the statistics show, reporting to a person in the chain of command isn't working well, as often times, no real action is taken or the commander is buddies with the perpetrator. With this rule set so firmly in a system that values rules and authority over all else, what can be done to lower those staggering numbers?
Leading the campaign is Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the New York Democrat who has sought to reform the system for some time now. Gillibrand points right to the Depart of Defense's failure to solve the problem over the last 20 years and the fact that they allowed the problem to escalate dramatically this past year. She says that they have done a poor job of cracking down on the commanders who fail to adequately investigate accusations. Gaining other senators to her side, Gillibrand proposed a bill that will take the power out of the commanders' hands in the sexual assault matters.
Although she faces some Republican opposition, many have joined her side. Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is one who takes her side, expressing that it simply makes no sense to have victims report to their boss rather than the police. Still many Republican lawmakers can't look past how this may effect the image of the military. South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham argues that the military is a place of discipline and order, and taking the commanders out of this process would corrupt those values. In the military, one commander is supposed to hold all the power, that's just how the military works.
Last year, Gillibrand fell five votes shy of the required 60 to pass the bill, but she isn't giving up. I admire Gillibrand's fight against sexual assault in the armed forces. This is a huge problem that no one has been able to solve, and she's finally pushing a bill that has gained support and may actually institute a change. I also think it's important to note that many Republicans are rallying with her as well, a contrast to the face off we've seen in Congress lately. Although the armed forces value their ranks of power and taking care of discipline and order, I think the problem has spiraled out of control and this plan is worth sacrificing some of the military's traditional values.
What do you think about this situation? Obviously something has to be done, but should Congress uproot the military's values and traditions? Should the military remain unchanged with its own rules and manners? Finally, do you think Congress will actually push this bill through?
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/us/senators-renew-push-for-bill-on-sexual-assault-in-military.html?ref=us&_r=0
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/sen-kirsten-gillibrand-renews-push-senate-vote-military/story?id=27308547
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/military-sexual-assault-debate/story?id=20950361
8 comments:
Grace,
This is obviously a serious problem, and I agree with you that something must be done. It may be traditional that in our military, the system of power would prompt a victim to report an assault to their commander, but the issue has obviously spiraled out of control and we need to seek another solution. I think it has been proven that this chain of command is not effective, and when utilized, just leads to animosity. When you think about it, it must be difficult for a man or woman that has just been sexually violated to go talk to their boss about it, especially if they are of the same sex. I think that in this case, these numbers are so depression that Congress must uproot the military's values and traditions. Taking the authoritarian flavor (for lack of a better word) out of this aspect of each soldiers' life might make this entire situation more approachable. As far as the actual military goes, I do not think that it needs to change its own internal rules and manners, but rather enforce their rules more thoroughly and work to foster an environment that allows for these issues to be discussed, and not simply glazed over.
This article brought to mind the Tailhook scandal of 1991, in which more than 100 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps aviation officers sexually assaulted at least 83 women and 7 men (or otherwise engaged in "improper and indecent" conduct at hotel in Nevada). Though this event brought forth talk about reforming the military's sexual assault policies, the action taken against the perpetrators was a little disappointing. Controversially, military officers and observers were not held accountable for knowingly allowing this lewd behavior to occur. Overall, this scandal capitalized on the hostile attitude present against women in the U.S. military in areas of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and equal treatment in terms of career advancement. With this precedent, along with many other problems that have surfaced in the past few years with the Armed Forces' conduct, I doubt Congress will actually push this bill through. Sadly, I do not think Congress is focused enough on these types of issues in this day in age, and problems like this will be overlooked at least for the time being.
Sources:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/booming/revisiting-the-militarys-tailhook-scandal-video.html?_r=0
Grace, you bring up an interesting topic. I believe that the current system of reporting an act of sexual assault to a military commander is allowing the problem to continue. I think Congress needs to make a change to the military's rules and manners for the greater good of all those enlisted in the armed forces. By allowing victims to report to police officers unaffiliated with the army will increase the likelihood that the perpetrators are punished. As you said, commanders often fail to punish those involved because they are buddies, so the victim goes on suffering. An outside officer would have no bias and hear the victim's case and punish the perpetrator in the proper manner. I think Congress will eventually pass this bill to combat sexual assault in the military. This is an issue that most people can agree on, and with support from both Democrats and Republicans I would think Congress would push the bill through.
Grace,
I truly believe the situation at hand needs to be dealt with immediately. When a woman is going to work, she should not have to fear that maybe one of her fellow soldiers is going to sexually assault her. The job of the United States military is to protect this country and its citizens, but can they appropriately do that when their own servicewomen are getting sexually assaulted right under their noses? With the 37% increase that made the number of sexual assault charges reach 26,000, the military must think something needs to be done.
Although there are people who oppose Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and her fight to help the women assaulted, she appears determined to not stop until the issue is resolved. One of the major arguments the Republican Party is making is that by taking power out of the commanders’ hands, it will negatively impact the image of the military. On the upside, the Republicans are not saying things along the lines of “we don’t care” or “sexual assault isn’t an important enough issue to address.” Since the main concern of the Republican Party appears to be the image of the military, they need to understand that military’s image will further degrade if more and more reports come in every year of sexual assault taking place. Not only will this news look bad at home, but foreign nations can also see what is going on, there is no telling how that could impact America’s future. But overall, if the sexual assaults continue to take place and rise this significantly each year, there will not be as much of a military to fix when it comes down to it. People choose to enlist in the army, to serve their nation, but if they know they are not going to be treated with respect and equality, then the amount of women in the military will drop substantially. Obviously, by being in the military the feeling of safety is not guaranteed on the battleground, but it should be guaranteed at the base among your fellow enlistees.
I believe with time Congress will push this bill through. With more and more Republicans like Rand Paul joining Gillibrand’s side, there is no telling how long it will take. With Republicans and Democrats starting to fight together, it is only a matter of time before Congress has a majority to pass this proposed bill. Although Republican Senator’s such as Lindsey Graham claim the commander in the military is supposed to hold all power, maybe that should only apply to military related events, not sexual assault ones. With the past year it has become very apparent that the commanders in the military do not take the sexual assault cases seriously. Maybe some commanders take action against the guilty party, but the majority appear to not be disciplining the accused. I do agree that the commanders should be in charge of almost everything military related, but as it turns out, sexual assault cases appear to be too much to handle. By getting the police involved, it will ensure something to be done, and if one guilty party gets punished, then the number of sexual assaults will dwindle. If a person believes they can do what they want and not get punished, the negative behavior will influence those around them, but if one person suffers the consequences, then the others will witness it and hopefully stop the behavior.
Grace, military tradition should not trump the livelihood of the peoples who choose to put their lives on the line to protect our principles of freedom, Not now, not ever. As you wrote in your article, "She [ The Senator] says that [The Military Has] done a poor job of cracking down on the commanders who fail to adequately investigate accusations" and I cannot find a reason to disagree. The military should be held to a higher standard than almost any other group in the United States, not only is a horrendous fact, but undermines the trust that we as Americans have to place in our armed forces. How can we trust them to take care of us, when they don't take care of their own is the question.It is frankly frightening. There is more accountability in the workplace right now then there is in our defense forces. That is not how it should be. To combat this, I would hope that Congress would step in and change the way the chain of command functions when it comes to these kinds of reports, whether that be totally redoing the hierarchy in these situations or creating a new system all together. Change is needed, and it is needed soon.
The bill that Senator Gillibrand is trying to pass will no doubt raise many questions concerning the unity and protection offered to those enlisted in the military. If this is such a pressing problem that it requires a bill to pass to solve it, then clearly mistrust is going to be circulating within the military community when all is said and done. However, I do not believe that implementing these policies is uprooting military values or traditions. Clearly the practice of reporting to the military commander rather than the police was implemented in order to stop the spread of gossip, and to draw attention away from the subject so as not to shine a negative light on the country's armed forces. Military values can be defined as honor, bravery, respect, and service to one's country. Never does it specify that serving the United States means protecting fellow troops at the expense of your safety and wellbeing. The military should be working together in order to appear unified and strong to neighboring nations, they should not be helping perpetrators of sexual assault escape all consequences simply to avoid the bad publicity.
Grace, the process to report a case of sexual assault in the military is obviously a flawed one, and I absolutely agree with you that without action, this will only continue to get worse. These examples of corruption and miscommunication in our own military are not what the nation wants to see from the men and women protecting our very freedoms. There needs to be a simple, direct way to report any illegal acts within the military directly to authorities who can handle the situation in a mature, responsible way. There is no other way to correct the wrongs that have clearly occurred in previous years. There is no way to go back and report those 26,000 cases of sexual assault to the appropriate authorities and restore some respect back to the military that was lost, but we can look forward and make the system work better for those looking to report such actions. A simple change in the way things are reported will absolutely not uproot the deep military traditions that some say are at stake here. What is really at stake is the safety and wellbeing of American soldiers, and the assurance that they feel protected and secure among their fellow soldiers and brothers. There is absolutely no excuse for the US military to allow such actions to occur on American soil within the American military. The job of the Armed Forces is to protect us from enemies that threaten our freedom and safety, not create issues within our own countries' boundaries that will take attention away from what is really at stake. Equal treatment, as Kristin pointed out, is something that the military must instill in each and every one of the soldiers enlisted. Without unity and coordination, the military will not be able to function at its best ability. I also agree with Kristin that Congress will most likely overlook such issues at the moment with other seemingly more important decisions to make, which is an unfortunate loss for the US military. They need to make changes immediately if they want to really make an impact on the way things are run.
Grace,
I very much agree with your points, and think that something definitely needs to change. Yes, military commanders are the bosses and they have had discretion over this topic for a long time. However, we see that the current system simply isn’t working to prevent sexual assault in the military. It is a tight-knit community, and I can understand their reasoning behind wanting to deal with issues themselves. But I think it has reached a point where they cannot have sole discretion over it anymore. This problem is bigger than that, and with the shocking increase in the number of sexual assault cases, I think it is time to hand things over to the police, who, as Kayleen said, are a third-party source that can review information unbiased. I admire Kirsten Gillibrand for her continued push to take the issue of sexual assault out of the commanders’ hands. It is definitely important to note the fact that many government officials from both parties are supporting her proposal (give or take a few Republicans). I agree that the military is a long-established institution that does base its values off of discipline and order, and I agree that they have a right to continue to do so. There is absolutely nothing wrong them wanting to keep discipline and order, but I think the mature thing to do is recognize that under their system, sexual assault cases are not being prevented and are, in fact, increasing. Also, the bill being proposed is not trying to take many things out of the hands of military commanders, only the sexual assault cases. I think it is in the best interest of both the military and the victims. Seeing as Gillibrand’s proposed bill only fell short by 5 votes, I see no reason as to why Congress would deny this. It is agreed on by people in both parties, and would definitely help many people.
I believe that this issue proliferates the belief that those in the military, and especially among officers. I mean this not at all to discredit the work of thousands of soldiers who fight to protect our country, but to those who seek to abuse the power and privileges given to them through the military. We saw a similar case of corruption with General Petraeus a few months ago, with his extensive affair. However this case escalates the issue in a whole new way. Not just one, but many military personal are abusing their power to sexually assault others. To not protect these soldiers is a flat out denial of rights. By keeping the system of reporting to officers rather than police, the circle of corruption in the military is far out of the reach of the law. The men and women who have most earned their rights as Americans are seeing these rights infringed upon by a corrupt penalty system which seems to operate above these very rights. The sheer number of cases, as well as the fact that that number is steadily rising, points to the obvious fact the current system is broken. It is now time for Congress to step in and change things. Tradition cannot be used as an excuse to corrupt the liberties of soldiers and subject them to the rising possibility of, for lack of a better word, rape. Without some law giving soldiers a gateway to communicate with help or protection outside of the military, they will continue to be trapped within the very institution in which they are being victimized.
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