• 19
  • February
    2011

When people go to work, they do not expect to be subjected to harassment and assault at the hands of their co-workers. People who are in the military sign up for dangerous careers, but they the dangers should be coming from enemy fire. Frighteningly, though, a recent video from NBC stated that women are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.

Currently, more than a dozen women are suing the Pentagon for ignoring allegations of sexual harassment, rape and other forms of sexual assault. The two main people named in the lawsuit are Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The women allege that there have been an increasing number of sexual abuse reports in the military, but that the Pentagon leadership has failed to do anything about it.

The lawsuit states that both men "ran institutions in which perpetrators were promoted and where military personnel openly mocked and flouted the modest Congressionally mandated institutional reforms." A spokesman for the Pentagon said that the problem of sexual assault is larger than just the military, and that the military is doing everything possible to prevent and respond to the problem.

In 2004, the Department of Defense created the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program. By 2009, there were more than 3,200 reports of sexual assault, but the department still believes most assaults are not reported. Of those 3,200 assaults that were reported, less than one-fourth were ever prosecuted.

The Pentagon leadership failed to take aggressive measures to stop the sexist and abusive nature that is pervasive in the military. Although the director of the department said it takes eight to 10 years to change a culture, one can't help but wonder why they aren't doing more.

Source: TPMMuckraker, "Military Personnel Say Pentagon Ignores Sexual Assaults, Harassment (VIDEO)," Ryan J. Reilly, 16 February 2011