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The US Department of Defense recently released a report announcing an 11 percent increase in the number of sexual assaults in the US military during the 2009 fiscal year, including a 16 percent increase in combat areas (mainly Iraq and Afghanistan, but also including Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and other countries in Central Asia and the Middle East). The government insists that this is indicative of an upward trend in the reporting of sexual assaults and not necessarily a rise in sexual assaults. However, they offer no evidence to support this claim, and other independent reports have found that the strains between men and women living in close quarters in combat zones has only worsened the problem.
Included in the study were sexual assaults by civilians on military personnel, military personnel on civilians, and also among military personnel. 87 percent of assaults were male-on-female and 7 percent were male-on-male. The typical case was an 18-25 year old junior male service member on a woman. Alcohol was frequently involved in the assault. In the report, sexual assault was defined as rape, sodomy, and other unwanted sexual contact. It did not include sexual harassment, which is handled by a different department. In 2009, 3,230 complaints were filed, involving members of the military as either victims or perpetrators. In 2008, that number was 2,908.
The Department of Defense has been changing its policies since 2004, making it easier for victims to come forward, offering treatment to those abused, and harshening punishment for the perpetrators. Victims are allowed to report the crime without notifying their commanding officers or police, but this decreases the number of cases that result in an investigation or trial. Recent figures show that in 983 out of 2,284 sexual assault reports, the accused were punished, and of those just 42% were prosecuted under a court-martial.
According to these statistics, a woman in the military is more likely to be a victim of sexual assault while on active duty than to be killed by enemy fire. Reports such as this serve to remind us of the devastating consequences of war and militarism, particularly on women. Are these rising numbers merely a result of increased reporting or are they indicative of a more alarming trend? Aggression and violence are encouraged in the military, and the rising numbers of sexual assaults may be a sign that these behaviors are not only being acted out on the battlefield. Is militarism a root cause of the increasing numbers of women being sexually abused in the military, or could there be other factors to consider (aside from an increase in reporting)? If militarism is to blame, what safeguards can protect victims from abuse?
