The Fastest Growing Violent Crime In The United States

Transforming a Rape Culture.

Rape is difficult to quantify because the crime is notoriously under reported. According to a government finances survey released by the National Victim Center in 1992, a criminal rape happened to seventy eight women in the U.S. every hour of 1990. Perhaps more to the point, almost every woman lives with the terror that a rape could sometime happen to her. There are significant odds that it already has. Research by Sociologist Diana E. H. Russell based on face-to-face interviews with 930 residents of San Francisco - selected at random from a scientific probability sample of households - found that forty four percent had suffered a criminal rape or an attempted rape at least once in their lifetime (reported in her book, 'Sexual Exploitation, Rape, Child Sexual Abuse, and Workplace Harassment'). The National Victim Center study - which did not tabulte rape attempts - found that thirteen percent of U.S. women have been criminally raped at least once in their lifetime. Extrapolating from both studies, there is a rape-survivor population in the U.S. of somewhere between twelve million and forty one million living Americans (National Crime Victim Center, page 2).

Rape is a crisis of national security if anything is. For any political candidate who is concerned with the safety of all the folks who live here, rape would seem to be a problem that desperately needs solving. Living in fear of forced and violent sex is much like living in a state of siege in occupied territory. Yet one candidate after another will declaim about defending this country's interests against foreign aggressors. Why doesn't local, home-grown, day-in-and-day-out sexual violence against women make it even to the bottom of their list of major social policy questions?

Imagine candidates stumping for public office debating how best to stop rape. Imagine them inspiring us with new ideas and new programs to eliminate crimes of sexual violence completely. Imagine them promising bold and innovative leadership to set a national priority to 'denormalize' rape, to refute myths about rape through all the mass media, to educate young people about personal rights and bodily integrity throughout the public school system, to create a national climate of opinion in which ending rape matters - because it gets talked about and cared about, and people take it seriously. Even among groups of men there would emerge a new kind of peer pressure, discouraging rape, rather than encouraging it, labeling coercive sex as one of the most uncool things a guy can do. Imagine a candidate declaring on national television, "As president, I will commit the resources of my administration to making the United States a rape-free zone."

Sounds utterly far-fetched, but why? Why isn't stopping rape an election issue?

There used to be a National Center for Prevention and Control of Rape. There isn't anymore. In 1986, because of the Reagan administration's budget cuts, this federal agency was absorbed into another, the anti-social and violent behavior branch of the National Institute for Mental Health.

There used to be a National Clearing House on Rape. There isn't anymore. In 1986, because of the Reagan administration's budget cuts, it was quietly defunded.

These offices were not closed because the U.S. rape rate - which is the highest of any Western Nation (Arthur F. Schiff, "Rape in Other Countries", Medicine, Science & Law 11, no. 3 - 1971, pp. 139 - 143) - had suddenly plummeted. Far from it. The FBI acknowledges that the rate of criminal rapes in 1990 was twelve percent higher than in 1986, and 24 percent higher than 1981 (FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 1990). In one year alone, between 1990 and 1991, that rate rose fifty-nine percent ('Survey of Victims shows Increase in Violent Crime'', New York Times, 20 April 1992, p. B12).
- Exerpted verbatim from pp. 216 - 217, Transforming a Rape Culture, Copyright 1993 Milkweed Editions. Edited by Buchwald, Fletcher & Roth.

Back cover: "This groundbreaking work seeks nothing less than fundamental cultural change: the transformation of basic attitudes about power, gender, race and sexuality. In Transforming a Rape Culture, thirty seven extraordinary writers unite to create a sourcebook of visions for a future without rape, strategies to get us there, and programs for action to end sexual violence."

- Kai

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Because, duh, it's wrong to rape or beat up anyone, male or female.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

MILBANK MEMORIAL FUND

Preventing Violence Against
Women and Children


Ronald B. Taylor
January 1998

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction

Domestic violence is a deadly crime, a social menace, and a costly public health problem. Most of the victims are women and children.
Community leaders and legislators continue to search for workable––and affordable––policies to curb the violence and heal the wounds.

Domestic violence can explode anywhere, anytime, and within any economic class. In Los Angeles, for example, a doctor was arrested, in September, 1995, after shooting and killing his ex-wife in a crowded courthouse hallway as the couple's young daughter watched in horror. He had previously been arrested for battering his wife, and, after the divorce, had violated court orders to stay away from her. Weeks before her death, this frightened, battered woman had reported that her ex-husband was still harassing her. According to the Los Angeles Times, she told the court, "I cannot free myself from his attempts to dominate and control my life."

Domestic violence can take the form of threats, verbal abuse, battering, rape, and murder. It is an escalating pattern of coercive behavior that includes physical, sexual, and psychological assaults against a current or former intimate partner or against children.

Researchers Evan Stark and Anne H. Flitcraft, co-directors of the University of Connecticut Health Care Center's Domestic Violence Training Project, have concluded that domestic violence may be the single most common cause of injury among women seeking medical attention, surpassing auto accidents, muggings, and rape combined. Their studies show that 40 percent of the women seeking medical attention are, or have been, victims of such violence. They estimate that from 20 to 25 percent of the women in the United States––more than 12 million––are at risk of being abused by an intimate male partner. As many as 4 million women are battered each year in this country; nearly three thousand are killed.

Child abuse and domestic violence are closely linked. Clinical studies show that men who batter women frequently abuse their children. Some battered women neglect their children, fail to protect them, abuse, and even kill them.


The statistics are grim: two thousand children die in outbursts of family violence each year; 140,000 are injured physically and emotionally. In at least half of these cases there is evidence of both child abuse and domestic violence. Child abuse and woman battering have often been (and in many areas continue to be) addressed as separate issues. Although child abuse laws predate domestic violence legislation by decades, the term "domestic violence" as it is applied by the law and by battered women's advocates tends to obscure its impact on children.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Violence Against Women and Children: A Perspective

The damage to the victims of domestic violence is staggering. The financial burdens, public and private, run into the billions of dollars; they include the costs of law enforcement, health care, and social services, plus the loss of jobs, wages, and productivity. In 1994 the American Medical Association estimated that the costs of domestic violence exceed $45 billion annually. In 1996 the National Institute of Justice, using a different methodology, estimated that domestic violence costs well over $100 billion a year: $67 billion is incurred because of domestic violence against adults; $32 billion results from the effects of child abuse; and the remainder of the money goes to law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

Domestic violence is deeply rooted in our culture. Once sanctioned by religion and codified by English common law, wife-battering and corporal punishment were considered a legitimate exercise of a man's power over his woman and his children. Although laws in the United States no longer allow a husband to beat his wife and children, too often domestic violence is still considered a private affair. This attitude has changed somewhat in recent years. Laws have been instituted to criminalize brutal behavior and to improve the safety of women and children. Old attitudes, however, are hard to bury.

Public efforts to protect children began more than a century ago, long before there was a battered women's movement to push for domestic violence reforms. Until the middle of this century, however, child welfare activists were primarily concerned about exploitative child labor, juvenile crime, and issues involving widows and orphans. Child abuse within the family did not become a major concern until the 1960s.

By the early 1970s, battered women and their allies joined in grass-roots efforts to expose and combat the effects of domestic violence, mainly as it affected women. Community by community, they developed a patchwork of shelters and advocacy programs to intervene in and prevent domestic violence. State coalitions and task forces formed; national resource and technical support centers provided services and training; and legislators passed laws making domestic violence a crime and adopted policies to offer battered women and their children some protection and help.

Child welfare workers and battered women's advocates often disagree about how to tackle the issue of family violence. Their philosophies diverge, their professional terminologies are different, they do not seek the same outcomes, and they compete for funding and recognition. There is, however, a growing awareness that child abuse and domestic violence are connected, and many advocates are now trying to overcome their rivalries and cooperate with each other.

Domestic violence, then, is a complex issue that crosses cultural, economic, and political boundaries. It can involve alcohol and drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, adult criminal conduct, poverty, and homelessness.

"We have made a start [and] are beginning to establish domestic violence as a community issue," said Anne Menard, director of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. "But there is much, much more to be done," she continued. It is not enough to pass laws that mandate reporting domestic violence and arresting batterers or that make criminal sentences tougher. Experts urge building strong, protective support systems for the victims and mandatory treatment for batterers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Violence Against Women and Children: Impacts and Reactions

Many women, victims of domestic violence, live in fear of pain and death. They are isolated, often lacking in self-esteem. They tend to blame themselves for what is happening and they try to explain away the bruises and broken bones. They may suffer depression and anxiety; some turn to drugs or alcohol and attempt suicide. A surprising number of them prove to be survivors; they develop strategies to endure and to protect themselves and their children. However, without help, escape is terrifyingly difficult. Few can simply walk away. Even if they flee, they may be stalked, harassed, or killed.

The traumatic impact of domestic violence on children is well documented. Rich or poor, these are children at risk. Most survive (often at great physical and emotional cost), others do poorly in school, drop out, or run away. Some turn to violent crime, some find marginal jobs, and others may even have successful careers. They have children and repeat the violent cycle: abused boys and girls who become abusive parents.

Long-range studies of school children show that youngsters from violent homes are twice as likely to commit brutal acts as children growing up in nonviolent homes; victims of child abuse and/or neglect are far more apt to become violent teenagers; the highest rates of youth violence and criminal conduct occur where there is both spouse abuse and child abuse.

These studies show an alarming connection between family violence and violent juvenile behavior. Violence of all kinds is on the increase. U. S. Justice Department reports show that the number of juveniles charged with violent crimes is up sharply; te en murder rates have more than doubled in two decades; the suicide rate has doubled.

While their numbers may be relatively small, the most violent of these youngsters display shocking behavior. The damage they do is horrendous. The cost of apprehending and incarcerating these violent young criminals runs into the billions of dollars.

New York Times reporter Fox Butterfield, in his book, All God's Children, gives examples of these costs. Nearly 100,000 youngsters were incarcerated in the United States in 1995, which represents a tripling of the numbers in two decades. The chronic juvenile offenders often end up in adult prisons. The cost of running the nation's adult prisons (including parole and probation) totaled $50 billion, up from just $4 billion in 1975. These figures do not include the billions spent on police work.

Butterfield traces the costly origins of violence by looking closely at a single case, that of convicted murderer Willie Bosket, considered the most violent criminal in the New York penal system where it costs $75,000 a year to jail a juvenile. Bosket has a quick mind but lacks empathy or conscience. He bragged about committing scores of robberies and stabbings before he shot and killed two Manhattan subway riders in separate 1978 crimes. He was 15 at the time, a violent, abused, and neglected child who had been in and out of foster care and juvenile lockups.

"The seeds of Willie's problems were planted early," writes Butterfield. When Bosket was born his father was in prison for murder. His mother lived in Brooklyn with men who beat her and the boy. She neglected him, beat him. In Butterfield's words, Willie began the "long journey into a kind of social void" at an early age. In public school, he threw tantrums, hit teachers, fought other kids, skipped class, and ran the streets robbing and, finally, killing.

"Children who are beaten learn to treat others the same way, using aggression to get what they want," Butterfield concludes. In other words, they are conditioned to react violently.

The Willie Bosket case is an extreme example of how a violent personality was formed and at what cost.

Recent studies of brain development and function reveal that the impact of parenting on emotional competence and stability starts very early. Children who are cared for and loved learn self-worth, empathy, and self-control.

"The emotional lessons we learn as children at home and at school shape the emotional circuits," writes psychologist and New York Times reporter Daniel Goleman in the best-selling book Emotional Intelligence. This means that childhood and adolescence are critical times in shaping the powerful emotions that govern our lives. A chaotic, brutal family environment can be a school for violent, deviant behavior.

Domestic violence can be found anywhere: the inner city, suburbia, rural areas. Reactions to it are most often crisis oriented: a 911 call to police, a bloody victim rushed to the hospital. If there are children in the home and they are uninjured, police take them to a juvenile hall or an emergency shelter and report the case to child welfare workers. If the children are in danger, they may be placed in foster care.

If charges are filed against the batterer, he is booked and sometimes jailed briefly. The woman's wounds are treated and, when she is released from the hospital, she may find temporary safety in a crisis shelter. In many communities little else is done to change the dynamics of violence. Eventually the woman and her children may go home or they may move to a safer place. Even when the courts order the batterer to stay away, a woman may be attacked again.

Take Nicole Brown Simpson, for example. Los Angeles police responded to her frantic 911 calls several times before they charged O.J. Simpson with wife battering in 1989. The couple divorced, but witnesses later testified that the battering did not stop. In June 1994 she and a friend were killed and murder charges were filed against Simpson. Although he was acquitted, the case focused the nation's attention on domestic violence.

In the aftermath of this double murder, domestic violence became a hot-button issue in 1995. The media discovered domestic violence. Stories appeared in newspapers, on television. Sports Illustrated (July 31, 1995) pointed out that Simpson was not the only sports figure headlined in domestic violence scandals. In a special report headlined "Sports' Dirty Secret," the magazine commented: "When scarcely a week passes without an athlete being accused of domestic violence, it is no longer possible to look the other way."

Thirty states passed 140 domestic violence laws; 100 had been passed the year before. Alabama, for instance, appropriated money for the Coalition Against Domestic Violence; New Mexico funded a new Domestic Violence Court. In California a legislature that had previously budgeted $1.5 million a year for domestic violence programs came up with $22 million––spread over two budget years––and passed a flurry of new laws.

Notorious cases attract public attention and the reactions almost always focus on the justice system, with a cry for tougher laws and harsher sentences. Lost in the uproar over crime and punishment are other equally important issues. Little attention is paid either to the causes and effects of domestic violence or to the shortcomings of health care and social service systems that struggle to help the victims and stop the violence.

Physicians and nurses are often the first to see the results of domestic violence. But their response has been to treat the bloody wounds without recognizing and responding to the underlying causes. That is beginning to change as more hospitals develop protocols and professional schools develop curricula to train students to recognize and respond to domestic violence.

As more people become aware of the problem, unexpected issues arise. For instance, some insurance companies are (or were) denying battered women health, life, and even homeowner insurance coverage. The risks are too high, these carriers explained. Even women who escape to a new life cannot always get insurance because their history of being battered is in their medical records.

Half of the 16 large insurance carriers surveyed by Representative Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) in 1994 admitted denying coverage when a woman had a history of being battered. He has introduced a bill to outlaw such discrimination, as have Representative Susan Molinari (R-New York) and Representative Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).

A spokesman for a large carrier denied that it had ever automatically denied coverage to victims of domestic violence. The company agrees that corrective legislation is needed to ensure that women are not denied coverage because they are, or have been, victims of domestic violence. It also supports legislation to ensure that insurance benefits are not paid to the abuser who causes injury or death.

Another insurance company acknowledged that it had denied coverage in the past but has since reversed that policy. This carrier supports legislation that prohibits insurers from denying coverage to a person because of a history of being victimized by domestic violence, and it has taken the lead in founding the Corporate Alliance to End Partner Violence, an industry group to promote public awareness and prevention programs.

Trade groups like the American Council of Life Insurance (ACLI) and the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA) agree that some limited regulation is needed to ensure that victims of domestic violence are not excluded from coverage. The ACLI would support state legislation but opposes any attempt to impose federal regulations. The HIAA would support regulation to prohibit denial of coverage for medical expenses but would not support requiring coverage for disability or long-term care coverage.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, representing state insurance regulators, has drafted model state legislation to outlaw such discrimination. The NAIC reports that six states––Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, and California––have passed antidiscrimination laws and that 14 others are considering similar action.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Kia, I'm with ya, bro. Little whitey right here. It's a tough gig.


Those guys that go to the gym and call everyone else queer, Damn. how insecure, you have to wonder if they're gay.

 

Here's some organizations that are trying to do something about about the violence and they are organized by men.

http://datesafeproject.org/


http://www.whiteribbon.ca/about_us/#1


http://www.oneinfourusa.org/overview.php

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

How to End Violence Against Women & Children
by Syracuse Cultural Workers

Work for full equality between men and women in society and in personal relationships.


Examine the ways we legitimize male violence.


Understand that what it means to "be a man" is defined by society.


Start on the playground.


Unplug boys and girls from violent media.


Promote good sports etiquette.


Hire coaches committed to nonviolence.


Do not use "like a girl" or "like a woman" as a put-down.


Encourage athletic activities that involve cooperation, fun, physical health and camaraderie.


Teach children how to settle conflicts peacefully.


Recognize that verbal and emotional cruelty is also violence.


Understand that love does not involve control or ownership.


Remember: Anger is a feeling; violence is an action.


Do not express feelings with fists.


Teach boys and girls effective, respectful ways to express frustration, sadness, and anger.


We are all role models. Be nurturing, loving, and caring.


Do not belittle, humiliate, or hit children.


Advocate for anti-violence laws and enforcement.


Recognize that the availability of guns increases lethal violence.


Ask local and elected officials to take action.


Teach your daughters that respect is just a minimum.


Teach your sons the same.


Teach boys and girls to communicate clearly in relationships, and that "no" really does mean "no."


Question rape myths.


Recognize that alcohol and drugs feed violence.


Never excuse behavior by saying "boys will be boys."


Confront homophobia - it pushes men into being tough.


Do not use "gay" as a put-down.


Recognize that individual violence is supported by social systems based on power and control.


Understand war's effect on women and children and men.


Resist glorifying violence.


Create new stories, myths, and heroes.


Praise gentle boys.


Encourage children to trust their instincts.


Believe victims and children.

SUPPORT THE WORK OF SHELTERS IN YOUR COMMUNITY.


© Syracuse Cultural Workers
------------------------------------------------------


- Kai

 

Richmond, California, High School Homecoming Gang Rape:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=Richmond gang rape&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the United States, 1.3 women are raped every minute. That results in 78 rapes each hour, 1872 rapes each day, 56160 rapes ech month and 683,280 rapes each year.
1 out of every 3 American women will be sexually assulted in her lifetime.
The United States has the world's highest rape rate of the countries that publish such statistics. It's 4 times higher than Germany, 13 times higher than England, and 20 times higher than Japan.
1 in 7 women will be raped by her husband.
83% of rape cases are ages 24 or under.
1 in 4 college women have either been raped or suffered attempted rape.
1 in 12 males students surveyed had commited acts that met the legal definition of rape. Furthermore, 84% of the men who had commited such acts said what they had done was definitely not rape.
75% of male students and 55% of female students involved in acquintance rape had been drinking or using drugs.
Only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police.

Information derived from CEASE - Coalition Educating About Sexual Endangerment (refer Google).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
As an appendage to the above inserts, please Google 'Kitty Genovese'.

 

A Woman in a 3 Piece Suit & A Man in an Evening Gown

A Woman in a 3 Piece Suit & A Man in an Evening Gown

"In a 2006 column, I got a question from a waiter who did not know how to address women customers properly. "Certainly no one wants to be called 'Ma'am,'" he wrote, "but it seems odd to address a woman with a husband as 'Miss.'" I said that "ma'am" it ought to be, and got a slew of reader letters about it, roughly half pro- and half anti-ma'am.

(This puts wait staff in a bloody awful position, and I'm strongly of the opinion that they ought to be cut slack--I've met women who are offended by "ma'am," by "miss," by "girls," and by "guys." If you're called something you don't like, either say nothing, or correct the server and then leave a nice tip so they'll know you weren't mad. The vagaries of the English language is not the fault of wait staff.)

But it's hard to think of the dislike of "ma'am" as being anything other than sexism compounded by ageism. "Ma'am" means a woman in authority, a woman due respect. Why would you rather be a cute, nonthreatening little "miss" when you could be a commanding "ma'am"? And for women who feel that "ma'am" implies age--well, what's wrong with that? Age brings a host of physical annoyances, but it also brings self-knowledge, wisdom, authority, achievement.

I'm sure the writers of "Battlestar Galactica" intend to show female equality by addressing the women as "sir." But all they are really doing is saying that authority is inherently male, that it is incompatible with femininity. I want Starbuck--officer-assaulting, insubordinate, cigar-smoking, best-pilot-in-the-fleet Starbuck--to be a "ma'am." And if that causes anyone dissonance, well, so fracking be it.

Men are sirs. Women are ma'ams. I am a woman: I am a ma'am.

Own your power. Own your age. You've earned it, ma'am."

- Robin Abrahams, Ph.D, Psychology; author of the 'Miss Conduct' column in the Boston Globe.
--------------------
Q. Why is "Yes Sir" acceptable - in some military contexts - in deference to a woman, but "Yes Ma'am" not so to a man?

A. Refer above blog, by Dr. Robin Abrahams
-------------------
"A woman in a three piece suit is 'chic', but, a man in an evening gown is fired(!)." :shh:
(Draw your own conclusions.)

- K. B. Robertson (aka RascalPuff), author of 'On Misogyny'.

Post Script: Of course 'Misogyny' means 'hatred of women', and, is of Greek language derivation.
On the other hand, there is no Greek (or Latin) word for 'man hating'.

 

there is a increase in woman against woman also.

tweaked out lesbians beating their lovers

 

Umm...It's hard to see how these statistics could all be mutually compatible with each other. For one thing, if 1 in 7 women are raped by their husband in their lifetime, that alone would be more than 680,000 rapes per year.

 

[Mod Note: This post has been edited to strike plagiarized material.]

 

Very interesting the way this modern society is moving moraly.

 

Kaidurkhon:

And yet...... it becomes an 'issue' when it happened to a girl.

Now that's its happened to Sheila and she's on Democracy Now retelling the horror of getting fondled by a lieutenant, we get a slot at the Sundance festival with a well-produced documentary on the "invisible war" of rape in the military.

Never mind there's already a history of male victims and never mind that, by volume, MEN are the number one victims of all violent crime. They are also the number one perpetrators.

We don't see any task forces, coalitions, support groups, fundraisers, charities, community drives, documentaries, or bulky research addressing the issue of MEN getting raped in prison-- no, men getting raped is hilliarious! and we write cute skits for the Daily Show about going to prison and dropping the soap.

Where would these weak little women be without The Phantom of Rape?

 

Does the cultural money making ideal of having women made-up to look like the hookers of old have anything to do with rape?

An analogy would be if the males decided to carry weapons, like swords and battle axes, as a fashion statement. Even if this was for fashion, it would still create an uneasiness because of the instinctive association of weapons as being something that can do harm. In the situation of the hooker dress, there is a subjectivity based on sexual arousal. The women know this and like the ease they can manipulate men compared to plain and concealed dress. Women can't expect all the benefit and no cost. It would be like the guy with the weapon fashion getting upset that people are so unfriendly to him. It can't be the weapons. There are predictors who have their fuse lit ,maybe not even by their victim, but by the other hookers who are gaming them. When they vent it could be a plain Jane.

Rape in the military was predictable before the infiltration of women. One of the reasons is, if you are a soldier and get caught, the enemy will torture you for information. With female prisoners of combat, rape will be used as part of the torture. The rest of the soldiers will not want to be given up and killed because the female is not prepared for this. Training will informally require she be prepared so she can survive and not give up her comrades in arms. Formal training would be PC taboo. Soldiers might be require to fist fight since in battle you may have to fight hand to hand. It is better to be prepared, and not surprised by the first punch in the field. Some guys will fight each other all the time out of a grudge. But in the field, this will be useful, when they confront enemies, they are better trained.

Say a women is raped as a prisoner, she can be mentally broken and might give up others to die. But if she is trained, she keeps her sanity and can also protect others. War was not a boys club that the males excluded women from because it was good. Women were exclude so the women could avoid all the deep darkness. War is hell, while killing, torture and rape is found in hell.

 

A major symptomatic portion of the infrastructure of ‘domestic’ American violence is manifest in endemic rape.
(*Violence against women & children, by adult males - this is a generalized description, a rule to which there are acknowledged exceptions which are accounted for in the following documentary investigation.)

“* The Invisible War ( my publication of *that title, far precedes the one at *issue here. Titles transcend copyright ) - is a groundbreaking investigative documentary about one of America’s most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape within the U.S. military. The film, a nominee for the 2013 Academy Awards, paints a startling picture of the extent of the problem: Today, a female soldier in combat zones is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.

“The Department of Defense estimates there were a staggering 22,800 violent sex crimes in the military in 2011.
(Refer, the US. Navy’s ‘tail-gate scandal’ a decade and a half past).

"Among all active-duty female soldiers, 20 percent are sexually assaulted. Female soldiers age 18 to 21 accounted for more than half of the victims...

“Focusing on the powerfully emotional stories of rape victims, The Invisible War exposes the systemic cover-up of military sex crimes, chronicling the women’s struggles to rebuild their lives and fight for justice. It also features hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officials and members of Congress that reveal ‘the perfect storm’ of conditions that exist for rape in the military, its long-hidden history, and what can be done to bring about much-needed change.

“At the core of the film are interviews with the rape survivors themselves — people like Kori Cioca, who was beaten and raped by her supervisor in the U.S. Coast Guard; Ariana Klay, a Marine who served in Iraq before being raped by a senior officer and his friend, then threatened with death; and Trina McDonald who was drugged and raped repeatedly by military policemen on her remote Naval station in Adak, Alaska.

"And it isn’t just women; according to one study's estimate, one percent of men in the military — nearly 20,000 — were sexually assaulted in 2009.

"While rape victims in the civilian world can turn to a police force and judicial system for help and justice, rape victims in the military must turn to their commanders — a move that is all too often met with foot-dragging at best, and reprisals at worst. To make matters worse, 33 percent of rape victims didn’t report the assault because the person they’d have to report it to was a friend of the rapist. And 25 percent didn’t report it because the person they’d have to report the rape to was the rapist himself.

“Many rape victims find themselves forced to choose between speaking up and keeping their careers. Little wonder that only 8 percent of military sexual assault cases are prosecuted.

“Is there hope that this broken system can be fixed? Many think so, and credit 'The Invisible War' with inspiring some much-needed recent action.
“This film has been instrumental in bringing the issue to light, and providing the impetus for positive change,” says Lois Vossen, 'Independent Lens' senior series producer.

“Since The Invisible War premiered at Sundance, the film has been circulating through the highest levels of the Pentagon and the Obama administration.

“Two days after Secretary of Defense, Leon E. Panetta, watched The Invisible War, he directed military commanders to hand over all sexual assault investigations to a higher-ranking (full Bird) Colonel. At the same time, Mr. Panetta announced that each branch of the armed forces would establish a Special Victims Unit. A congressional panel is set to hold hearings on sexual abuse in the military in early 2013.”
……………………

“Producer/Director Kirby Dick is known for making highly influential, award-winning films. The Invisible War is an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary Feature, and has been the impetus for possible change on a national level. His previous film, Outrage, examined the hypocrisy of powerful, closeted politicians and was nominated for an Emmy. In 2006 he directed ‘This Film is Not Yet Rated’. A breakthrough expose of the highly secretive MPAA film ratings system, the film compelled the MPAA to make long overdue changes in the way it rates films. Dick’s prior film, Twist of Faith, is the story of a man confronting the trauma of his past sexual abuse by a Catholic priest. It received a 2004 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature. Dick’s other films include Derrida Sick's: 'The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan', and 'Supermasochist'.

“Producer Amy Ziering is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary producer and director who previously worked with Kirby Dick on the films 'Outrage' and 'Derrida'. Ziering also produced 'The Memory Thief', which was a New York Times critics’ pick and won several festival awards, and Taylor’s Campaign. Ziering taught at Yale during her graduate studies there. She initiated and runs the ongoing 'Films 4 Change' activist film series.”
_______________________________

(The above prose was acquired via the Google entry of ‘Why We Fight’. As *Congressman of the 17th Federal District in *1985, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and his aides recovered previously classified and otherwise inaccessible documents which proved my participation - as an assault Coxswain / E-3 Bo'sun's Mate Striker - transporting 'covert operatives' - in the <still 'classified', failed> 5/'61 Bay of Pigs, Cuba invasion <Not to be confused with the 10/'62 'Missile Crisis', where there were no shots fired>. Moreover, as a direct result of Mr. Panetta's vigilance as C.I.A. Director in 2011, my previous applications for combat < and Category 5 hurricane-at-sea > acquired PTSD was granted, after nearly two decades of * denial by the Bureau of Veterans Affairs. <* 'From the information submitted in your claim - most of which is based on Service Record NavPers DD214 - there is no evidence that a stressful experience occurred'.> Whereas, 16 of 32 covert operatives and U.D.T. (Underwater Demolition Team 'frogmen' <SEALs>) disembarked and went ashore-from but did not make it back-to my boat, and, my cloaked service record proves eight near-sudden-death experiences; most of which, though witnessed, were not openly recorded at all... With all kudos to the moderators and keepers of this forum, and by their petitioned leave, this writer's studies and findings of the causes, effects and possible minimization of the specter of war - certainly including rape and murder - may be further and more thoroughly circumspected via this attached url: http://forums.delphiforums.com/subedai NOMADS, CIVILIZATION & WAR: The Hinges of History.
PostScript: The last post - #150 - on the previous page, includes '[Mod Note: 'Plagiarized content scrubbed']". Whereas, excerpts from the writers of other material is termed as 'infringement' - and not plagiarization - when credit is allotted to original authorship and source, and when the copied material is not overly extensive. When those conditions are met, writers and publishers characteristically allow-for and are complimented-by such 'infringements'. With all due respect to moderator authority, this is a policy proffered by publishers, which I have practiced, consistently, for the past sixty years in my own publications.)

 

Hey Fraggle Rocker:

This thread is highly complimented by your presence. Maybe after this 5 week (or so) respite you have thought of the content and direction of this OP and hoping you may contribute further more... (Just sayin' ya know...).