Sexual Assault In The Military

Sexual Assault in the Military Sexual assault in the military is much more prevalent than a person may think. Only recently has it been touched on in the media and questioned about its consequences. Even if civilians are raped, punishment is very rare due to lack of evidence and the overall respect for the victim. In the military, rank is everything. If someone is attacked by a person of a higher rank and there is an absence of hard evidence, the decision will almost always rule in favor of the attacker. Also, in the military there is an extreme lack of respect towards women. So if an enlisted woman is attacked by a man who outranks her, the woman’s chances of receiving a fair trial are horribly low. Sexual assault in the military is not punished …show more content…
This is because doctors and commanding officers have “victim blaming attitudes” (Campbell 98). As a result of this, women and men do not feel that they will be taken seriously if they come forward with their case. Usually victim’s main concern is that Chain of Command, or the CoC, will not believe or will ignore the complaint. Victims have a severe lack of confidence in the “CoC’s ability to address a report of sexual assault.”(Skiba iv). Victims also feel that filing a report may damage their reputation and have a negative impact on their career… they are concerned about embarrassment and stigma due to poor understanding of the confidentiality of the investigation process.”(Skiba iv). The military, in particular, tends to lean towards more of the “victim blaming”, rather than showing some consideration and sympathy towards the victims. This is because, “military organizations so strongly emphasize the importance of the unit over the individual.” (Campbell 98). Due to this officers will rarely go out of their way to aid an individual, they tend to look at what is best for the unit as a whole. This is also a factor that comes into play when victims are deciding whether to seek help or …show more content…
John a 21 year old, enlisted in the army after 3 years of unemployment after high school. Sarah is 18 and enlisted right after high school to help pay for college. Both are assigned to the same unit. Both live in the same barracks on a US base. There is a lack of entertainment in the town, so most service members spend their time drinking while watching movies or playing video game in their rooms. A group of friends, including John and Sarah, normally hang out on weekends. The group has been drinking for several hours in John’s room and the friends depart. Only Sarah is nearly incoherent after consuming nearly half a bottle of vodka, but John is drunk as well. She lies down on John’s bed and he follows shortly after. The next day Sarah wakes up and texts her friends saying that she cannot remember what happened the night before, but she thinks that she may have been raped. She only remembers brief images of John on top of her, having sex with her. Sarah speaks with the sexual assault response coordinator on base and feels that she remembers that she did not consent. She reports the incident. A criminal investigation is opened. Sarah provides a statement and John in questioned. There