1 in 5 women sexually abused in our now christian Air Force

[ensho]

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2011/0317/Exclusive-1-in-5-Air-Force-women-victim-of-sexual-assault-survey-finds?cmpid=addthis_mailto


Exclusive: 1 in 5 Air Force women victim of sexual assault, survey finds

The Air Force is set to release a comprehensive survey about sexual assault, which could become a model as the Pentagon begins to address sexual assault within its ranks more openly.


-snip-

While the data suggest the sexual-assault rate in the Air Force is roughly equal to what it is in the broader civilian population, the survey – obtained exclusively by the Monitor – points to unique challenges presented by the culture of the service. The vast majority of crimes identified in the survey are committed by male airmen on female airmen, and nearly half of rape victims said they did not report the crime because they "did not want to cause trouble in their unit.”

-snip-

The Pentagon has long wrestled with sexual assault in its ranks and at the military academies. Yet it has had no clear picture of the pervasiveness of the crime. Defense officials routinely release figures showing the annual rate of official sexual assault reports. When those figures go up – as they did between 2009 and 2010 when there was a 10 percent spike in reports, for example – officials are often quick to respond that those figures “do not necessarily” represent an increase in incidents. It may simply mean, for example, that victims feel more comfortable reporting them.

-snip-

“It certainly puts the Air Force in an uncomfortable position, because now they are going to very publicly say, 'Here’s the scope of our problem,' and frankly, that takes guts,” he says.

-snip-
-----------------------------------

"it takes guts" really?

why am I not surprised

[niyad]

1. no, it would take honesty and integrity, something with which our military seems completely

unacquainted when it comes to the culture of rape within the various branches.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Christian Air Force?

Well, in that case, the rape was God's will, surely?

[riderinthestorm]

4. Your post makes my tummy hurt. I know how you meant it but I'm sure there are those in the AF

who really do believe that today....

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Yes, they do believe it.

I think those minds should be examined. Either they are so religiously over the top that they should be declared a security risk. Or they have absolutely no conscience, grabbing an excuse they think will resonate with their support base. (Because, surely, they don't give a damn about what we think.)

And if they're the latter, I guess they are typical conservatives.

[lovuian]

3. this is an outrage

:argh:

[msongs]

5. heterosexual christian family values lol nt

[Kolesar]

6. There are many better careers than the USAF

More pay, transferable skills, and better company.

[Jersey Devil]

15. Sure, you can learn to fly jets working for a bank or police department

My son in law's F-15 Strike Eagle fighter squadron has several women pilots and wisos (weapons and systems officers). We have visited them on several occasions at various bases. The squadron is like a family and spends days and weekends off socializing together like cousins, kids and spouses included. The women officers are respected just like the men.

I am sure it must be hell for a woman to be raped no matter what her profession. But don't condemn an entire branch of the military based on the actions of a few, who according to the article posted, don't amount to more than in any other profession.

[Kolesar]

19. I work in an office building full of beautiful and sharply-dressed women

...with warm personalities. Wouldn't trade that for the world.

[bobbolink]

8. According to SWAN, the rate of rape in the military is higher, and a major cause of homelessness

among women veterans.

* Forty percent of female homeless veterans report experiences of sexual assault in the military.

* Homeless women veterans are more likely to experience severe forms of mental illness compared to men, mostly because of higher rates of Military Sexual Trauma.

* The risk of death for homeless women veterans is substantially higher than for women in the general population, especially among younger cohorts.

Service Women's Action Network
http://www.servicewomen.org/userfiles/file/HWVfactsheet.pdf


"I think I can say confidently that every single woman in the military has dealt with sexual harassment at some time in their career," she said.

http://abcnews.go.com/WN/homeless-female-veterans-americas-streets/story?id=10099653&page=2

[COLGATE4]

9. It's pervasive in other branches of the military, too. My daughter

served as a Navy doctor at a combined Navy/Marine Corps base in the Middle East. She tells me that by far and away the greatest number of health complaints from female personnel (enlisted and officers alike) were a result of urinary tract problems caused by 'holding it'. This 'holding' was the result of female personnel not daring to use the bathrooms at night for fear of being sexually molested.

[BlueIris]

10. Oh, yes, let's give the AF the credit it doesn't deserve for its "'guts'."

Ugly, rapist enabling pigs.

[Balbus]

11. According to the National College Women Sexual Victimization Study...

1 in 3 college women are victims of sexual assault. So I guess it's better to send our daughters to the Air Force than college...

[WatsonT]

17. Shh

don't use facts.

[Initech]

12. I swear, we're living in a reverse Project Mayhem from Fight Club

Only the uber-rich and the ultra-fundamentalists are the ones doing the damage.

[L0oniX]

13. It takes guts for a woman to join the military? I guess so.

[KamaAina]

14. Sadly, that's probably not any higher than in the other services

I've heard tales of women coming down with infections because they were afraid to go to the latrine at night, and tried to hold it in all night. :grr:

[TomClash]

16. Just another reason

why Christ simply refuses to return. :crazy:

[kiva]

18. I looked for any information in the story to justify your subject line,

and couldn't find it. There was no mention of religion as either a reason that airmen raped their co-workers, or that religion was a reason that the women did not report the rape. Instead I did see that "While the data suggest the sexual-assault rate in the Air Force is roughly equal to what it is in the broader civilian population, the survey – obtained exclusively by the Monitor – points to unique challenges presented by the culture of the service."

So rape occurs at the same rate as in the civilian world...does that mean that all rapists in the country are Christian? Or that all rape victims who do not report the rape are Christian?

Religion (all religions) have a lot of negative things to answer for, but this does not seem to be one of them.

[Codeine]

20. The USAF has had a very dominant culture of Christian fundyism

going on in the last few decades, even more pervasive and more aggressive than in the other branches.

[kiva]

21. Oh, I agree with that - the degree to which fundies have managed

to dominate the Air Force in particular is scary. I was just pointing out that twisting stories to make a point is less effective than just finding examples that actually say what you want them to say.

[Codeine]

22. The OP in question does that an awful lot.

Your point is well-taken.