Why sexual assault a chronic disease in US military?

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Chen Zhuo
Time
2020-12-24 16:30:21

Recently, US Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy announced the results of the investigation and handling of the vicious incident in which 20-year-old female soldier Vanessa Guillen at the Fort Hood was sexually assaulted and dismembered by a hammer. In recent years, many senior US military generals have ruined their careers due to sexual misconduct. For example, Guy Roberts, a senior Defense Department official, was fired for sexually harassing female subordinates on December 13, 2019; a male general even sexually harassed female lieutenant general Claudia J. Kennedy in the office.

One of the reasons for the frequent occurrence of sexual assaults in the US military is related to its inadequate punishment of similar incidents and even toleration to some extent.

Collective honor and high-degree unity are some sort of combat effectiveness for an armed group facing cruel wars. However, the US military alienates the collective honor into an erosion or even ignorance of individual dignity. Sexual assault, which seriously violates human rights and personal dignity, is even regarded as a trivial matter. The upper level does not take it seriously, and the grassroots level presents a false appearance of peace and harmony. The happened sexual assault and harassment often go quiet under the guise of "protecting collective honor" as long as there is no big scandal that cannot be concealed.

A media report said a female US military captain reported to her superior within 30 minutes after being raped on the front line of the Gulf, the result of which is that the perpetrator was promoted while the victim was dismissed from the military. According to statistics, only 53 percent of sexual assault and harassment cases in the US military have been dealt with, while 70 percent of victims who reported sexual assaults received various retaliation.

The ineffective measures of relevant responsible departments are also to blame for the frequent sexual assaults in the US military.

Take the Fort Hood where the Vanessa Guillen incident took place as an example. There is an average of 129 vicious cases of sexual assault and violence each year. However, the criminal investigation department of the base is often having insufficient manpower, insufficient investigator experience, and hasty handling of such cases.

US Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy admitted on the sexual assault and killing of female soldier Vanessa Guillen that "The command climate at Fort Hood has been permissive of sexual harassment / sexual assault." The long-standing sexual assaults in the US military throughout various services and throughout peacetime and wartime show that, this "permissive environment" does not only exist at Fort Hood, and the reasons for this "permissive environment" are also multifaceted.

At present, many developed countries, including the US, are facing difficulties in drafting. The military personnel gap in the US is getting bigger and bigger. For example, the US Army's recruitment target for the fiscal year 2018 was originally set at 80,000, and it was later reduced to 76,500. However, there was still a gap of 6,500 in the end. In desperation, the US military had to lower its recruitment standards by recruiting people who had drugs, theft, misconduct, and even petty criminal records. This not only increases the difficulty of management but also significantly increases violations and crimes, including sexual assault.

The US military adopts a system of rotation, and service personnel generally only spends two to three years on the same post, and the longest period will not exceed four years. Rotation can be between domestic forces, domestic and foreign forces, and US military bases and forces around the world. One of the "by-products" of this rotation system is that military personnel have no fixed homes, and family members and spouses can't move with them at anytime.

In an interview with the media, Ryan McCarthy admitted that the US military did not adequately protect female soldiers who were sexually assaulted and harassed. But he also said that he doesn’t know whether Vanessa Guillen can get justice. Natalie Khawam, the attorney hired by the Guillen family, pointed out that we can't expect the people who have problems to solve the problems themselves.

 

The author Wu Minwen is from College of Information and Communication, PLA National University of Defense Technology. This article is originally published on www.cyol.com, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.

 

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