So is this good or bad? Sexually assualt is still like a wild fire in the military

2013-12-28T08:55:08-05:00

So reporting is up 50%, but what about the over 20,000 that are not reported each year?

http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_24807578/reported-military-sex-assaults-soar-50-percent

Reported military sex assaults soar 50 percent

and Hiroko Sato
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WASHINGTON -- The number of reported sexual assaults across the military shot up by more than 50 percent this year, an increase defense officials say may sugg...

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Dec 28 at 2013 9:47 AM

2013-12-28T09:47:55-05:00

There are different ways to interpret this. Victims reporting more could either mean there are more crimes being committed altogether, or that victims feel safer reporting now than before...which is a good thing. If 100 people were assaulted in 2012 and 10 reported, and 100 people were assaulted in 2013 and 30 reported, then in one year reported assaults tripled. But the number of assaults did not change. Just a simple example.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 28 at 2013 12:30 PM

2013-12-28T12:30:17-05:00

IMO SFC G, thank goodness. There was once a time when that up 50% wasn't even a thought because no ONE was reporting anything. Victims were just living in their own personal hell from the trauma, while units swept it under the rug or bullied the victim into silence. The numbers are increasing because finally our Soldiers feel like action is being taken and repercussions are being felt. No, everyone won't report but thank goodness we have more reporting starting to happen.

Response by SSG Robert Burns made Dec 28 at 2013 1:13 PM

2013-12-28T13:13:50-05:00

The problem is not just with Sexual Assault, it is with everything. How many people don't turn their friends in who the know drive drunk, who they know smoke weed, who they know cheat on BAH, commit adultery, fraternize with students, etc. What would the stats be for DUI's be if we started turning in our battle buddies or even ourselves? Double, triple?

The problem is we under-report (snitch) whatever you want to call it, on everything. The question is why? That is the problem.

We have created a culture in the military where we are more afraid to dime each other out and the possible backlash from it, than we are in losing our integrity.

Response by Sgt Matthew O'Donnell made Mar 7 at 2014 9:48 AM

2014-03-07T09:48:01-05:00

91% of sexual assault victims in the United States are women. This issue
doesn't affect men as it does women. Having a prosecutor charge the
service member instead of a commanding officer is going to send a bigger
message to the rest of the unit and duty station. Taking the power from
the commanding officer will take away the good soldier defense and bias
of . The service member still has rights and so does the victim. If the
defendant is found they should be charged and dishonorably discharged.

What
is in place right now seem to be working, but it's not good enough or it wouldn't be a
topic for discussion. I actually found the topic on linkedin and wanted
to see what this community had to say.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 7 at 2014 9:55 AM

2014-03-07T09:55:50-05:00

I personally feel like the problem exists because of cultural issues. For instance, the recent situation where the group posed in front of the casket. That one issue caused an uproar on this site, facebook, national media, etc. Tons of people were calling for her dismissal and her CoC's dismissal as well. People were saying it was the worst thing they'd ever seen and so forth. While I agree that it was a horrible thing to do, sexual assult of OUR soldiers is far worse and obviously more widespread.

However, I would take many incidents of that nature if I could stop the cases of sexual assault and rape that are taking place within our military. The difference is there isn't much of an uproar over these sexual assault isses and it seems as if most people generally don't care.

Sexual assault needs to be a top priority within our military structure. How can a soldier trust other soldiers to help protect them from the enemy, if they are being sexually assaulted by soldiers on there same team, squad, platoon, etc.