The US military has been involving women in a range of roles, such as saboteurs, laundresses, nurses, and water bearers for centuries now (Vince & Foster, 2015; Department of Veterans Affairs, 2012). Much as the women were never technically allowed to serve in the military before 1901 history is full of examples of women being involved on the frontlines (Chen et al., 2010). The establishment of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901 marked the first time that women were involved formally in the military (Department of Veteran Affairs, 2012). After the first step, other departments within the military, including the Navy, started the integration of women in the military.
While the inclusion of women in the US military is regarded one of the major social milestones in the history of the country, debate has been ongoing about the role of women in such positions. Among the issues of concern for the public and policymakers alike has been reports of sexual assault that have been targeting service women. Consequently, the proposed research paper will evaluate the issue of sexual assault in the military, especially on the perceived barriers to reporting incidences of assault.
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Statement of the Problem
Both women and men have been exposed to sexual assault that has been perpetrated by their colleagues in the military. Nevertheless, close to twenty-five percent of women ex-servicewomen seeking healthcare services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs report that they encountered at least a single incidence of sexual assault during their time in the military compared to only one percent of their male counterparts (Battered Women’s Justice Project, 2019). Another study conducted by Skinner et al. (2000) found that fifty-five percent of women in the military are sexually harassed while twenty-three percent of them are sexually assaulted. Several other authors, such as Campbell and Raja (2005), Friedman (2007), and Wolitzky-Taylor et al. (2011) have studied the incidence of sexual assault among women in the military and they consistently report high prevalence of the issue. Furthermore, women who find their way to the military while young, those who experience the incidences of assault before their military service, and those of enlisted rank seem to be at higher risks of being sexually abused during their military service period (Allard et al., 2011).
Extant literature, such as Chen et al. (2010) and Mengeling et al. (2014) suggests that most of the victims of sexual assault in the military fail to report the incidences of assault because of many reasons akin to those experienced by those who do not serve in the military, such as fear, shame, embarrassment among others. Notably, less distinction exists between people in their professional and private military lives, which creates the notion that others are likely to find out about the assault and develop a feeling that they would be perceived unfit to serve in the military.
While there are only a few cases of reported sexual assault in the military, the adverse effects of the incidences have gross outcomes on the lives of those who serve in such positions both during and after their service. For example, according to Battered Women’s Justice Project (2019) and Burns et al. (2014), victims of sexual assault experience a wide array of long-term mental health and health consequences that originate from the trauma. The cited author reports that they may experience difficulties to trust, shame, guilt, anger, self-blame, and other negative effects. The same victims could experience mental health problems that include substance abuse, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and others, which could result in the disruption of interpersonal relationships, homelessness, unemployment, suicide, physical issues, and further victimization (Vince & Foster, 2015).
Significance of the Topic
Studying the perceived barriers to reporting sexual assault among military personnel is important because it would lead to better strategies of reporting the cases and increasing the chances that victims would be attended to effectively and that the incidences of sexual harassment will reduce. Precisely, as the US strives to be a model of gender equity around the world, understanding the challenges that people experience in the military because of their gender would help to accelerate the attainment of the equality goals. As Wolff and Mills (2016) suggest, the US has been striving to reduce cases of military sexual assault since 2004, and a research of this type would bolster the volume of resources available to inform better strategies
References
Allard, C. B., Nunnink, S., Gregory, A. M., Klest, B., & Platt, M. (2011). Military sexual trauma research: A proposed agenda. Journal of Trauma & Dissociation , 12 (3), 324-345.
Battered Women’s Justice Project (2019). Military Sexual Assault . Retrieved 7 March 2019, from https://www.bwjp.org/our-work/topics/military-sexual-assult.html
Burns, B., Grindlay, K., Holt, K., Manski, R., & Grossman, D. (2014). Military sexual trauma among US servicewomen during deployment: a qualitative study. American journal of public health, 104 (2), 345-349.
Campbell, R., & Raja, S. (2005). The sexual assault and secondary victimization of female veterans: Help-seeking experiences with military and civilian social systems. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 29 (1), 97-106.
Chen, L. P., Murad, M. H., Paras, M. L., Colbenson, K. M., Sattler, A. L., Goranson, E. N., ... & Zirakzadeh, A. (2010, July). Sexual abuse and lifetime diagnosis of psychiatric disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. In Mayo clinic proceedings (Vol. 85, No. 7, pp. 618-629). Elsevier.
Department of Veterans Affairs. (2012). America’s Women Veterans: Military Service History and Benefit Utilization Statistics . Retrieved from http://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/specialreports/final_womens_report_3_2_12_v_7 .pdf
Friedman, J. (2007). Reporting sexual assault of women in the military. Cardozo JL & Gender, 14 , 375.
Mengeling, M. A., Booth, B. M., Torner, J. C., & Sadler, A. G. (2014). Reporting sexual assault in the military: who reports and why most servicewomen don’t. American journal of preventive medicine, 47 (1), 17-25.
Skinner, K. M., Kressin, N., Frayne, S., Tripp, T. J., Hankin, C. S., Miller, D. R., & Sullivan, L. M. (2000). The prevalence of military sexual assault among female Veterans' Administration outpatients. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15 (3), 291-310.
Vince, S., & Foster, L. (2015). Women Veterans by the Numbers. California Research Bureau. Sacramento, CA. Retrieved from https://www.library.ca.gov/crb/09/WomenVeteransBrieflyStated.pdf
Wolff, K. B., & Mills, P. D. (2016). Reporting military sexual trauma: A mixed-methods study of women veterans' experiences who served from World War II to the war in Afghanistan. Military medicine, 181 (8), 840-848.
Wolitzky-Taylor, K. B., Resnick, H. S., McCauley, J. L., Amstadter, A. B., Kilpatrick, D. G., & Ruggiero, K. J. (2011). Is reporting of rape on the rise? A comparison of women with reported versus unreported rape experiences in the National Women’s Study-Replication. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26 (4), 807-832.
