Military sexual trauma — the new face of PTSD

[militaryspouse]

While I don' think this is a rampant problem, it is a serious problem none-the-less. It has to be scary just getting out of basic as a female and going into a wartime situation with a bunch of men that you don't know all too well. I don't think the majority of servicemembers would allow this to happen right under their nose.

Thoughts?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18494197/

For Kevie Kelly, it started with dreams. For Tina Gerber, it was sleepless nights. Bev Jackson actually considered ending her life. What these women have in common is a deep love for the military and a diagnosis that took them by surprise — post traumatic stress disorder.

Tina Gerber, along with her husband, Jerry, is a longtime member of the Wisconsin National Guard. Last year, she was deployed to Afghanistan, where she says she was raped by another soldier.

"All the stories you hear about women not doing anything about it and crawling into their own little hole and hiding from it and not talking about it — I always thought, 'Well, that's ridiculous. If it happens to me, I'm gonna be out there," Tina says. "That's not what I did at all. I hid and I didn't talk about it."

Three days later, Tina did talk to a doctor and with help was released from active duty. Last November, she came home to her family.

[Hestia]

1. I wonder...

do you think this has anything to do with men being deployed in countries where there are no brothels? Look at Viet Nam, brothels all over the place, plus they R&R'd in Australia. I am not downplaying rape by any stretch, but...

[militaryspouse]

3. hmm

Hestia,

That's a tricky question. I don't know if they've ever done studies that suggested where you have brothels you have less rape. Maybe it just didn't get reported as much in VN....then again..women weren't really involved in war like they are now. Not to be graphic, but they do have thier hands to relieve such sexual..umm..release.

[BOSSHOG]

4. Very interesting

I was deployed to Saudi in the 90's. And I can tell you the troops, male and female were very sexually active (consensual.) But another part of the equation. We had no alcohol. Only alcohol free beer which did not produce a buzz or inebriation. That, I think was a greater factor in a lack of violence against women or the men spending time beating on each other.

[gatorboy]

6. Are you FUCKING kidding? Jesus Christ.

Yes that's exactly what the problem is. There weren't enough whores to go around. Thanks for the brain suck.

[melnjones]

8. glad someone here has half a brain. nt.

[politicat]

10. It just repositions the target of the sexual violence.

Instead of raping co-workers, those with the penchant for rape abuse sex workers. It's sexual colonialism.

The root of the problem is that the military (and I say this as a young woman who grew up on bases, was propositioned frequently and crudely before my 14th birthday, and was only preserved from actual rape by my father's rank) and working class male culture have a pervasive misogynistic bent that allows groups of men to see women as objects to be used and discarded. If the men who go into the military see women as objects, the military itself does nothing to change this -- though they have done with racism. In fact, as an intimate observer, I would say that the military culture exacerbates objectification by forcing women in the military to be as badass as the boys are. Femaleness is not acceptable in military culture while blackness, jewishness, muslim-ness and latino-ness are. It doesn't have to be every guy in uniform - hell, it doesn't even have to be half. All it takes is a percentage above about one in ten and the rest not policing the bad actors. If the good guys let the bad ones get away with abusing women or sexual innuendo or rape, then the "good" ones are also culpable... because the military emphasizes the team, not the individual.

Alternately, it is very difficult for men who go into the military with a high respect for women to maintain it. My husband, who served in Iraq I, was raised by a feminist mother and sister, and went national guard to pay for college. He went in with a lot of respect for women and never lost it, but only because he has a rock hard core of inner strength and self-will that cannot be broken. And he's rare. (Of course, being really huge helps - no one can call him a sissy or threaten him.)

[TahitiNut]

11. (Why must this be said again?) Rape is NOT about sex - it's about power.

:eyes:

(Why perpetuate TWO myths?) (1) Rape isn't about sex. (2) Libido is NOT exclusive to males.

It's disgusting to me that anyone would infer that only males have a sex drive. (I don't know why it's not disgusting to more DUers to see this myth repeated.)

[wicket]

12. Thank-you TN

:hug: :yourock:

[gatorboy]

15. What's disgusting is the rapist apologists around here

giving their "Dr. Phil" prognosis on the matter. It makes me want to :puke:

[undergroundpanther]

28. Same here

Rape apologists are some ignorant people.
Rape is a crime it's about abuse of a person and POWER.

Rape has NOTHING to do with sex or sex drive or not getting sex.

Rape apologists are sympathizing with perpetrators of crime and trauma.
And they are in a way complicit in the crime of rape by rationalizing it.

[Morgana LaFey]

21. I'll tell you why

It's disgusting to me that anyone would infer that only males have a sex drive. (I don't know why it's not disgusting to more DUers to see this myth repeated.)

BTW, the word you want is "imply," not infer. Infer is what YOU do when interpreting an unspoken point; imply is what the writer does in making an unpsoken point.

One reason more of us aren't "disgusted" is that we women recognize that the sex drive of most males is way different from ours, by an order of magnitude, actually. It's more robust, shall we say. More perpetual, more of a PITB at times, actually. For some of them, it seems to rule their every waking hour. That's just not true of most (if any) women.

[TahitiNut]

24. Fascinating. Not only do you wallow in errant pedanticism ...

... you pretend to speak for all women AND condescend to opine regarding "most" men. It must be tough for you to share a world with such transparently perverted beings.

:eyes:

[Morgana LaFey]

34. Not at all, but I do rather enjoy poking the sensibilities of those

who take themselves a wee bit too seriously, perhaps, (hah! not to mention everyone's sex drive, or lack thereof) and have a little trouble recognizing when someone is doing precisely that, so overreacts and responds in a somewhat (or greatly) bloviated manner.

:hi:

[undergroundpanther]

29. Rape is not about sex

It is abuse of power.It is taking something from another without CONSENT.A violation of human rights.Rape a CHOICE to traumitize a person,and it is wrong and has NOTHING to do with sex.or lack thereof.

[Morgana LaFey]

33. Did I say anything about rape? Not a word. Nor was that my subject.

I know very well rape is not about sex. There are a few others here, however, who ARE confused. Perhaps you could help un-confuse them.

[BlueIris]

18. Ew.

And with that screenname, no less.

[undergroundpanther]

27. rape is about power

not sex. Hestia rape is an act of cruel domination it has NOTHING to do with sex.
A person is not driven to rape,unless there is a power trip involved and a fantasy addiction,and very likely a bad personality.People can go YEARS without sex,and many people that go without sex DO NOT RAPE.They use their hands.

Rape is an aggressive cowardly bully domination trip.It has NOTHING to do with sex or not getting sex.
Rape and"men needing it" is a very destructive MYTH that is used to rationalize intolerable acts such as rape...Don't spread that vicious lie.

[Dhalgren]

2. I think that is a much bigger problem than we know. This is not

acceptable on any level and must be brought to an end. Discipline means nothing if it doesn't extend to this serious matter. Some soldiers should be serving life sentences in Leavenworth for these crimes. Send as few of these bottom of the barrel scum rapists to life with no parole and you'd get some of these neanderthals' attention.

[lazer47]

5. I am a liberal I am also retired military, I say that,, to say this

30ys ago when the nation was facing a choice of equality of the sexes in the military, the big push was on to grant women full combat status along side their male counterparts, we are now reaping the benefits of that misguided thought process, yes women are equal in every respect, however a combat zone is not a place to experiment with it. and these women are the victims of that ill thought out process.

[gatorboy]

7. You're probably right. We can't trust the men of our military around women.

they're too far gone in their training to see women as humans. You probably saw alot of that since you bring it up.

[lazer47]

9. I didn't say they can't be trusted

however if you put male and females in that close of a situation "things will happen", stress in a combat situation brings out some of the lesser good qualities in us all.

[cap]

13. so bring back the draft

women arent in combat because of some "social experiment". They are there because the military needs brains and they cant recruit enough men who are intelligent enough to handle sophisticated tasks. Women are better than men in terms of intelligence. Men are better than women in terms of brute strength.

Not enough intelligent male recruits.... then bring back the draft. Declare the volunteer army a mistake. You'll have the other problems though... unmotivated recruits. My dad was a draftee during WWII and knowing my dad, he drove his sergeants nuts. I could not imagine my father getting his uniform on straight. Maybe bring back physical violence against recruits to get them back in line.

So take your pick: unmotivated males or deal with the women.

[NaturalHigh]

26. "Women are better than men in terms of intelligence"???

Gee. :eyes:

[gatorboy]

14. War brings out the need to rape our military women.

I gotcha the first time. :eyes:

Or better yet, skip the talking points and give us a better analysis on how this war rape affliction takes hold on or soldiers.

[militaryspouse]

16. ...

The only ones that are responsible are the rapist.

[alarimer]

17. Absolutely true

I would add, though, that the commanders are falling down on their own jobs if they allow this to happen. There was a recent report in Salon on this very topic. The amount of sexual harassment and assault is unbelievable and the higher-ups are doing nothing (or next to nothing about it). Women have died from dehydration because they won't drink liquids in the afternoon so they don't have to go to the latrine at night and be raped. They have more to fear from their fellow soldiers than they do from anyone else.

[gatorboy]

19. Not according to lazer47 .

none-the-less, I agree with you.

[Morgana LaFey]

22. The misguided thought process is the rampant misogyny in the military

not women's equality, and not any job or position they hold. When new recruits in bootcamp are compared negatively to women as an insult when they don't perform or "just because" they're new and need to be humiliated for some stupid reason, you're building an entire culture of misogyny. It ain't RESPECT for women that allows/enables/promotes rape, it's DISRESPECT and hatred that promotes it. When you have a homophobic "don't ask/don't tell" policy, you're reinforcing a culture of misogony along with the homophobia.

There's plenty of misguidedness to go around, but what you name isn't it.

[kickysnana]

25. Your premise is wrong

Blaming women for their own rapes is still wrong and perpetuates the cycle. We don't need to get women out of combat situations you need to train and support the troops so that as many as possible come home intact.

Things I learned In 1970

1. Many officers believed that the USWACs were also comfort women.
2. They could run a brothel from counseling at an Army Base with impunity.
3. Taking short cuts training recruits by brutalizing them has deadly consequences.

Things I learned from my daughter-in-law who enlisted in 1997 only because her friend did.

1. Many officers believe service women are comfort women.
2. They cold run a brothel on a base with impunity.

Things I just learned from reading the OP

1. Many soldiers believe that service women are comfort women.
2. Taking short cuts in training recruits by brutalizing them has consequences.

[lazer47]

31. I didn't blame the women

If you read what I said, you will find that I blame the administration that put them in that situation, Rape in the military during war is a capital offense, I have never met anyone that I know of who considered women in the military as "comfort women", I've said enough about this, as for my personal views, you can't in your mind dream up what I would do to the men that Raped these women,, now Flame away

[followthemoney]

20. War is about dehumanization.

First you go to basic training to get dehumanized into one of the members of a collective killing machine. After you have lost sufficient humanity you then begin to dehumanize other people designated as enemy. This leads to further personal dehumanization.

News today is that more than 50% of soldiers witnessing torture will not report it or do anything about it. Old news to me.

A high school senior is removed from class for writing a free form essay with graphic violence. Administrators fear he might be another Cho. But he has a date with the marines in October and if he wasn't thinking mass murder by then he would soon learn it.

So dehumanized killing machines are also raping machines? Who is surprised but the naive? Social inhibitions are broken down and if you complain the diagnosis is personality disorder. Did you hate your father? Why the problem with authority?

[Morgana LaFey]

23. good post nt

[militaryspouse]

30. ...

I don't think we can pigeonhole the mind of rapists. The reasons can be many, not isolated to any one area. None of us can know the mind of a rapist..of course unless they tell us, and some do. I personally believe that SOME rapist rape for sex...yes which ultimately is about power b/c they are exerting power over another, but sex sometimes is the motivation. Take date rapes for instance. Some men don't or won't stop when the woman says stop b/c to him he feels that the woman shouldn't have got him worked up in the first place. Some act like they don't know how to turn off the brakes. I have a close friend who was date raped, the guy didn't beat her or anything, he just held her down. When he was done, he said "Sorry..I couldn't help myself" <roll eyes>

[Morgana LaFey]

32. Well, if we can't pigeonhole the mind of rapists, why did you?

And so inaccurately, I might add.

Rape is control and domination sexualized. Period. End of discussion. It's not about sex. If you continue to believe that, you're on your own and I can't stop you, but it's really harmful. AND it's pretty damned insulting to men, as well.