Sexual Violence Affects Both Men and Women
- More than 70 members of the US Military encounter coerced and abusive sexual contact, aggravated sexual assault or are raped every day. That's three every hour.
- 76 percent of men who were sexually assaulted did not report their attacks.
- Heath X reported that he was gang raped, told he was lying, threatened, bullied, assaulted again and tried to commit suicide all during his first month in the service. He left, became homeless, was incarcerated and was diagnosed as suffering "intense psychological pain." He was taken to a Naval jail, and then returned to his post where he had to serve with the "gang of molesters" that had attacked him before. He was violently assaulted before and given the day off. He faced court-martial or dishonorable discharge. He was denied benefits because he was dishonorably discharged. He was 18. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-chemaly/military-sexual-assault-facts_b_4281704.html
"THE MILITARY'S SECRET SHAME"
When men in the military rape other men in the ranks, no one wants to talk about it. Why the sexual assault of males in the service is finally being confronted. This is an article from Newsweek, it discusses the culture and environment among males in the military. It also shares personal stories, details repercussions for victims, and Military's policy to addressing sexual violence. *These stories may be triggering, the quotes and link provided include verbal content of his experience. There is no graphic content. "What happened to Jeloudov is a part of life in the armed forces that hardly anyone talks about: male-on-male sexual assault. In the staunchly traditional military culture, it’s an ugly secret, kept hidden by layers of personal shame and official denial." -Newsweek "But now, as the Pentagon has begun to acknowledge the rampant problem of sexual violence for both genders, men are coming forward in unprecedented numbers, telling their stories and hoping that speaking up will help them, and others, put their lives back together. " -Newsweek |
Due to the much smaller number of women in the military — there are about 200,000 compared to 1.2 million men — women still bear a greater proportion of these assaults. But the numbers are still striking because attacks against men are so often overlooked.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/why-the-military-has-a-rape-problem/ |