Newsflash 2: "Sexual Assaults on Female Soldiers: Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Newsflash 2

Newsflash: “Sexual Assaults on Female Soldiers: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

Article: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968110,00.html

* Note: all quotes are from the news article unless otherwise noted in parentheses.

While the Time Magazine article “Sexual Assaults on Female Soldiers: Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” brings up an important issue that needs to be heard, the article fails to get at the center of the problem: plain and simple, the perpetrators need to be PUNISHED in order to prevent sexual assault from happening in the first place. It is not the woman’s responsibility to do everything to not be raped; it is the military’s responsibility to prevent rape and punish the perpetrators when sexual assault happens.

The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” rule in the military was initially put in place to protect homosexual soldiers from facing discrimination. However, this saying has had more negative than positive affect on the armed forces. The saying “don’t ask, “don’t tell” has filtered into sex relations between men and women. Women, influenced by the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy are forced, as Kenji Yoshino would put it, to “cover” their regular behaviors. The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy has swayed commanders to not ask and victims to not tell when there are sexually assaulted. And these are not behaviors that are inherently feminine as “covering” usually implies. You would think female soldiers have done everything to “cover” their femininity: they wear masculine camouflage military attire, their hair is tucked tight in a bun and hidden under a cap, they do not wear any makeup

and a profession in the military is as masculine a job there is. The covering I’m talking about here is the covering of normal, everyday behaviors—habitual and necessary behaviors performed by all men and women. These female soldiers have to alter their everyday processes so as not to be raped. Women “stop drinking water after 7pm to reduce the odds of being raped if they have to use the bathroom at night;” women who “went out for a cigarette…fear she would be demoted — for having gone out without her weapon.”

Women are forced to cover everyday habits while men are not. Rape should not be something women must try to avoid; it should be something men should not do. The problem is, these men aren’t being punished so they continue to rape while it remains the responsibility of the woman to not be raped…this is ABSURD.

In his article, “Patriarchy, the System: An It, Not a He, a Them, or an Us,” Allan G. Johnson states that both women and men participate in patriarchal society and, thus, both can influence it. However, it is in the hyper-masculine society of the military where I believe Johnson’s theory cannot apply. These female soldiers, who are participating in this “intrinsically violent and hyper masculine” society have no influence and have no control.

The article also points out that there are “not nearly enough mental-health professionals in the system to help” these victims. Although the “Intersex Society of North America Agenda” covers a vastly different issue than the topic at hand, it does introduce the importance of counseling and mental health needs: this is also effective when applied to victims of sexual assault. It is not an coincidence that “female vets are four times more likely to be homeless than male vets” becomes incidences of sexual assault have lasting emotional and mental effects on victims. But once again, this article falls short of the real solution here. Yes, it is important to treat rape victims but how about trying to prevent the rape from happening in the first place?

Ariel Levy, in Female Chauvinist Pigs, discusses how women’s participation in raunch culture has worsened their relations with men, causing both men and women to exploit women and view them as sexual objects. Radically interpreted, Levy’s argument could reflect the argument that women who dress and act like “sluts” are more likely to be raped. But how can Levy’s argument fit into military life? Female soldiers who are victims of sexual assault are far from indulging in raunch culture. They are clothed from head to toe, their looks are completely de-feminized…and yet, they are being sexually assaulted at a rate that is twice the civilian population (statistic from article). Raunch culture is not nearly as pervasive in the military, and yet it is in the military where women are exploited the most.

The main problem with this article is that it seems to blame women, as if it is the woman’s fault for not telling that she has been raped. However, the women that do tell aren’t seeing justice. Women who tell are often removed from their unit for “protection” while the perpetrator goes unpunished; in the military “only 8% of cases that are investigated end in prosecution, compared with 40% for civilians arrested for sex crimes.” No wonder women don’t tell…justice is not being served. The article states that “both Congress and the Pentagon are getting serious about this problem:” “it is now possible for victims to seek medical treatment without having to report the crime to police or their chain of command.” More field hospitals have trained nurse practitioners to treat the victims; more bases have rape kits.” Yes, it’s great that these victims are now receiving the proper treatment but WHAT ABOUT THE PERPETRATORS?! Nowhere in this entire article does it talk about punishing the rapists. If these sexual predators go unpunished the assaults will just continue. It is as if rape is condoned as long as the victim receives medical treatment. The article falls short of the true problem and the true solution: there needs to be some sort of step to prevent rape from happening in the first place, not just treating women who have been raped.