...RAPE IN MILITARY Back in my hometown, when I was just a young little girl, there was a time that American movie culture approached us and caught many attentions to viewers. During that time, the genre that amazed and thrilled me the most was those movies about war, for which my admiration to military women was later developed through such great movies like Pearl Harbor or Cadet Kelly. For the first time in my life, I realized how honored, brave and independent a woman can be, and most importantly, how there was still a place in the World where women were respected and appreciated. I was indeed grateful for that. However, having grown up and experienced with several cultures, I started to discover the dark sides of every society, in which the unfair treatment to women still happens in family, at work place, or even on the streets. My belief from childhood about an existing fairness for women has collapsed immediately after I figured out a dirty truth behind the most disciplined, governmentally institutional family called the U.S military. An analysis of military women who was raped during their serving reveals an increasing number of victims from last several years, which somehow has turned into an issue called “military rape culture”, while emphasizes the extravagant neglect of the authorities when it comes to let the cat out of the bag. My fellow women, have you ever gotten into a situation when you had to gather all your courage to choose the very rough path but eventually...
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...overseas may not always behave in accordance with social norms. This line, however, is crossed when that behavior is exaggerated to the point of abuse towards fellow soldiers. According to interviews with women in the military who have returned from war, the amount of sexual harassment they are forced to endure has not only increased, but has been written off by officials and fellow soldiers. An act of sexual harassment towards anyone should be dealt with and the abuser should be punished, not disregarded or hidden. These statistics and reports should be publicized, in order to prevent the perpetrator from violating another, and help women soldiers know they are safe to come forward with their allegations, instead of hiding in fear of her superior officers. According to the military, sexual assault is defined as “rape; nonconsensual sodomy; unwanted inappropriate sexual contact or fondling; or attempts to commit these acts” (Benedict 7). With such a substantial number of women joining the armed forces, these boundaries are being crossed more and more each day. Women today consist of fifteen percent of active duty forces, while a 2003 survey states that thirty percent of female soldiers were sexually assaulted by a fellow member of the military (Benedict 11). Not only are these women dealing with surviving attacks from insurgents, but now they have to worry about their “comrades” attacking them behind the supposedly safe walls of the bases. Caryle Garcia,...
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...Rape Culture Views: Attitudes and Practices in our Society that Normalize or Excuse Rape. Brianna Burke Sociology of Women Dr. King June, 20, 2013 Abstract Rape Culture views are based on attitudes and practices in our society that normalize or excuse rape. Society excuses rape because it has come to the belief that sex is an act of male domination and female submission. Although we have laws against rape they do not appear to be a main focus point. Society seems to minimalizes rape to the point of not caring, in some cases making the victims seem to be at fault. Because it seems that the repercussions of the rapist are not as tough as they should be, rapists repeat their actions without fear of severe punishment. The average sentence for convicted rapists was 11.8 years, while the actual time served was 5.4 years. In the US because of our rape culture, rape in the military became a major problem in recent years, even up until this problem was publicized. When first brought into the public’s eye the military didn’t seem to be taking rape seriously. Rape is not just a nightmare for military women but for men as well. Rape seems to be more main stream than some might think. Society more often than not are blaming the victims, the proof is in a recent 12-minute video of young men in Steubenville, Ohio, joking about the brutal, extended gang rape of a 16-year-old girl. According to one study of 16,000 Americans, 17.6% of women report having been victims of rape or...
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...Abhorring rape is central to many feminist ideals. This aggressive and violent action is perhaps one of the most vivid representations of male dominance over females. Rape is an act of aggression, a classified war crime, and an assertion of men’s dominance and power. Emma Sulkowicz, a Columbia University student, was raped by a peer and is now calling her school and community to awareness and action by carrying around the scene of the crime: a dorm mattress. Sulkowicz’s experience of rape, while not connected with an official or militarized war like that of the United States-Mexico border, is part of a larger call to arms by transnational feminists and human rights activists around the world who wish to end the brutality and expansive damage rape causes its victims. Columbia University is burdened, although not as heavily as Emma Sulkowicz, by the constant physical reminder of the rape on campus. Sulkowicz has transformed her experience and recovery into a work of art for her senior thesis project and, under the stipulations, cannot ask for help but is able accept aid from fellow students or spectators if it is offered. This mattress has brought the university community together in support of a fellow student during her recovery from a traumatic experience along with the raised awareness of the violence and damage of rape. The school body is also bonded by the general distaste of the manner in which the administration handled, or refused to handle, the incident. According to...
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...Military Veterans From research studies, military veterans aren’t well compensated for their service in the military. Not only are they not well compensated, there were many combat soldiers coming home with anger issues, PTSD, depression, and other psychological problems. According to research, half of the homeless individuals are military veterans not just an opinion but it’s a proven fact. Veterans are often not honored, as they should be. Why aren’t they? Another question is why aren’t our veterans not well taken care of? No health insurance for veterans First, scientific studies show that working age veterans don’t have health insurance. According to Genevieve Kenney, a senior fellow with the Urban Institute and co-author of the report...
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...former name of Korea) was invaded by Japan in 1910, Korean women were forcibly sent to Japan as comfort women: sex slaves of the Japanese military. ‘Comfort woman’ is a euphemism for a female sexual slave to the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II. The Japanese military recruited young and unmarried Asian women to join the military, then sent them to brothels in China and other Asian and Pacific countries in order to “comfort” Japanese soldiers. One of the few surviving Korean comfort women, Soon-duk Kim, gave the following testimony to Sangmie Choi Schellstede, the editor of the book, Comfort Women Speak: Testimony by Sex Slaves of the Japanese Military: “I was promised a job as a military nurse…[however, the Japan military took us to] a ruined village of Shanghai. Rooms were divided into tiny cubicles. Each of our fifty girls was divided to one of these cubicles. Now this house became a brothel, and we were sex slaves in it” (38). Kim was wounded due to numerous rape. She explained about the horrible remedy she received: “One day our manager gave me packets of black powder to take once a day…[But] after I used it several times, he then told me the powder was made from a leg of a Chinese soldier’s corpse” (38). This experience is not limited to Kim. Approximately 200,000 Korean women suffered as sex slaves of Japan’s military system before and during the World War II. Today, however, not many people remember this event, resulting in maltreatment towards the survivors...
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...The Rape of Nanking of December 1937 resulted in the murder of 300,000 Chinese civilians, rape of more than 20,000 females, destruction of private property, theft, and inhumane torture as Japanese soldiers spiraled into a vicious cycle of sadism and flagrant violation of morality. This event, resulting in further degradation of Sino-Japanese relations, wrests the title of the most horrific atrocity from all other World War II theatres, excluding the Holocaust. Following this mass carnage, asking why such an event transpired is permissible. The Allies charged and executed Japanese General Iwane Matsui for his role in the Rape of Nanking [war crimes], because the Rape of Nanking was not the result of a breakdown of discipline, but the successful...
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...Balkans” by Slakenka Drakulic, it would change campus culture for the better. The women affected by war essentially have no name, no life, and are nothing, but humiliated by male soldiers. This is the case in sexual assault on campus. In Reading S, it would allow for women to feel more comfortable about talking of rape, and bring light to the spectrum, instead of rape being the extreme. It would bring awareness to students on how going through war takes away a persons name, and life. On investingwest.org, many women at a campus explain their experiences after being sexually assaulted. “Both women say the schools’ handling of their cases compounded their trauma, and both point to insensitive handling that ranged from inappropriate questioning to being required to go through mediation sitting near the man they had accused” This is in issue among many campuses, and a sexual assault seminar should be apart of every school orientation, women should feel comfortable to talk about rape. Each character in the novel only has their first initial as their name besides two characters, Maj and Brit who were not apart of the war. “Were not human anymore, thinks S. the camp has stopped us from feeling human. How will we ever get used to living outside the camp again?” (Drakulic 130) from this quote alone we are able to understand what the victims went through; therefor we can understand war, it is meant to be hostile and to humiliate victims, especially women over men. The women are taken into...
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...Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. These violations included physical and sexual abuse, torture, rape, sodomy, and murder. The abuses came to light with reports published in late 2003 by Amnesty International and the Associated Press. The incidents received widespread condemnation both within the United States and abroad, although the soldiers received support from some conservative media within the US. The administration of George W. Bush attempted to portray the abuses as isolated incidents, not indicative of general US policy. This was contradicted by humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, stated after multiple investigations that the abuses at Abu Ghraib were not isolated but were part of a wider pattern of torture and brutal treatment at American overseas detention centers, including those in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. There was evidence that authorization for the torture had come from high up in the military hierarchy, with allegations being made that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had authorized some of the actions. The United States Department of Defense removed seventeen soldiers and officers from duty, and eleven soldiers were charged with dereliction of duty, maltreatment, aggravated assault and battery. Between May 2004 and March 2006, these soldiers were convicted in courts-martial, sentenced to military prison, and dishonorably discharged from service. Two soldiers, Specialists Charles Graner...
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...Why Women Should Not Have Combat Roles in the Military In January of 2013, the ban preventing female soldiers from having combat roles in the military was lifted (Harris). As of today, women are fighting on the front lines of war alongside men during a time when war is more brutal now than ever. As a soldier in the Army, it is my plan to one day go overseas and fight against the enemies of the United States. However, it frightens me to know I will be fighting alongside mothers, sisters and daughters, who are all sacrificing their lives to do a job that men have been doing since the beginning of time. There are many important jobs done by women in our military, and I know that is what makes our country special, but I do not think women should be allowed combat roles. The main reasons behind my argument are women are not physically or mentally suited for combat, the amount of tension and sexual abuse that results from women in combat, and the amount of other jobs that women can have in our military besides combat jobs. Women are simply not as physically equipped as men are for combat. A contributor to studyhealth.com said, "Men are over 30% stronger than women, especially in the upper body. Although many feminists cannot face this fact, females simply do not have the strength or endurance necessary to be, for example, effective combat soldiers." A combat soldier is required on average to wear between 88 to 102 pounds of gear, depending on the weather, on almost every...
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...away from anything that would make them feel as if they were in the situation that caused their PTSD in the first place, hence making them relive it. That they are generally frightened, nervous, timid etc. I would say this would all depend on the individual who is experiencing PTSD. I have PTSD myself. However I do not exhibit anxiety, I do not avoid anything connected with shooting, the military, driving etc that may spark my PTSD or worsen it. I would agree that I have issues at times concentrating, and have had sleeping issues for about 12 years. Those would be the only two signs listed above I would say I experience. I do not have nightmares that I know of, I just have issues actually falling asleep before 3 am. What I did notice in the text that was somewhat alarming was A. no mention of PTSD concerning military members, and B. when PTSD is discussed concerning rape it is only discussed concerning the rape of women as if men are never raped or suffer from PTSD as a result. PTSD is discussed a few times concerning the Sept 11th attack but zero about military. Members of the military have suffered from PTSD well before and well after the Sept 11th attacks and would be a much better...
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...The events of the “Rape of Nanking” The raping of nanking is the most unknown event in history. The rape of nanking was an example of gendercide against men & women . It’s mainly known for the mistreatment done to the women. They were brutally injured ,traumatized or killed. Defenseless men were made POWs, murdered or used for bayonet practice. They were also burned and buried alive. The raping of nanking violates human rights because no one is subjected to torture or cruel inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. This event violated article 5. (Source 8) Japan & China had several feuds prior to this incident. Japan and China went to war in 1884 to gain control of China’s trading ports. Between 1899 and 1907 a city called the Hague in netherlands agreed to to prohibit the mistreatment of POWs and civilians. By the 1930s Japan thought it was their destiny to conquer China. Refugees tried to escape crossing the Yangtze river. Due to no transportation they were trapped on the east bank, many tried to swim across. Japanese soldiers arrived firing several shots. A Japanese soldier reported he had seen an estimate of 50,000 bodies adults & children. (Source 2)...
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...Infantry Today, one of the biggest debates over women’s rights is the one over females being in the infantry. The world is changing and with that comes a lot more responsibility for policy makers, and there is a great debate over women being on the front lines. Women have been in the Military for quite some time, but not in a front line type of role. I can see both sides of the argument; the one that wants people to broaden their views and accept women in the infantry, and the other side that sees at as more of a male type of position. There are many pros and cons to the Military allowing women in combat positions, and I believe that while women should be allowed to have a chance in the infantry, the standards need to be the same whether it is a male or female. When the Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta removed the barriers of women being in the infantry it opened up 237,000 jobs to women. Around 53,000 positions are closed to women by units, such as Brigade Combat Teams in the Army. Panetta said that “if members of the military meet the qualifications for the job- not reduced qualifications- then they should have the right to serve.” The same argument can be made for having gays in the military. I don’t believe that they should be excluded, but I do believe they should have to keep their personal life to themselves. I agree with Panetta’s statement saying that if they are qualified then women should be able to serve. And the Secretary of Defense also stated that if women were...
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...This quote means anyone, regardless of their education, can create history as long as one does something significant. However, it does require someone who is well educated to record history. One needs to be well educated in order to avoid bias, and document down all important events as accurate as possible. For example, many Japanese soldiers went down in history as a result of The Rape of Nanking, but Japan does not educate their population about The Rape of Nanking. The majority of the Japanese soldiers were poorly educated compared to today's standards, but they were still able to create history. Japan not educating...
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...Women and P.T.S.D 1 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Women Women and Their Risk for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 8 Oct 2012 PSY 121 Dr. Hornstein Women and P.T.S.D 2 Abstract This paper will explain the causes, symptoms, and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as it relates to women. A multitude of studies were done showing the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in men but recent studies show the severity of the psychiatric disorder on women. Researchers have found that non-combat veteran females had higher levels of PACAP (pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide) than patients without the psychiatric disorder and none in men.(2) Women and P.T.S.D. 3 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (P.T.S.D.) is a serious condition that can develop after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic or terrifying event in which serious physical harm occurred or was threatened. P.T.S.D. is a real diagnosable disorder, (3) although many health insurance companies refuse to acknowledge it by paying for it. P.T.S.D. is a lasting consequence of traumatic ordeals that cause intense fear, helplessness, or horror. People with P.T.S.D. may suffer flashbacks to the traumatic event, become aggressive, or numb, or withdrawn, have nightmares, and become emotionally numb or even violent. Most people who experience a traumatic event will have reaction that may include shock, anger, nervousness, fear, and even guilt. These reactions...
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