There were a couple things that I found absolutely ridiculous in the two articles. One is this quote: "When she went to the abuse coordinator, she was threatened with prosecution for having left her weapon and her post."
A woman has been raped, and the so called "abuse coordinator" who is supposed to care about such matters and make sure that they are handled properly completely ignores the woman's claim. Not only does the abuse coordinator ignore her claim, the coordinator threatens the women as if she had done something wrong. So what if she left her post? There is a bigger matter at hand here. She has been raped. Rape is a crime that is all too prevalent in our society, and happenings such as this one is part of the reason why many rapes go unreported or rapists are not held liable for their actions.
The concerns do not seemed to be prioritized correctly when it comes to sexual assault and harassment in the military. For example, one of the articles told how some commanders worry that a report of sexual assault or harassment would reflect badly on their leadership. Again, I ask, so what if it reflects badly? Maybe it should reflect badly. If the reporting of a crime has a negative affect on the commander, perhaps the commander would be more compelled to take extra steps to ensure that these type of crimes do not happen or happen as often. I get the idea that sexual abuse may seem to be a lesser issue compared with greater issues of war, but this does not make it an issue of no importance. It is still a very important issue that should not be classified as an issue that is not deserving of full attention. Being in the military can already have harmful psychological affects, and coupled with sexual assault or harassment, those psychological affects are heightened. The military should care about the well being of its members because they are the ones that make the missions possible and put their lives in jeopardy every day.
I personally would not feel comfortable coming forward if I were sexually assaulted on a military base. I feel like the military is such a male dominant institution; I do not think that I would feel comfortable at all reporting the crime, especially if I felt that the crime would not be taken seriously. If something had a serious affect on me, I would in no way want that event to be trivialized. It would only make matters worse for me. I would probably just keep what happened to myself and allow it to bother me day after day. No one should have to feel that way. Women and men (because as the article points out men can be victims of sexual assault too) should feel like they are in an environment in which sexual assault or harassment is not tolerated and is taken with the utmost seriousness. I think it would be especially difficult for men to come forward to report sexual assault by another male in the military because sexual orientation is something that is a very sensitive subject in the military.
One fact in the reading that I found surprising is that adultery is considered a punishable offense in the military justice system. I don't understand how this can be so. I am not at all supporting adultery, but imagine if adultery were a crime in the American civilian justice system. Prisons would be overflowing with people. Adultery seems like a personal matter that should be solved between the parties involved not an outside third party.
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