Military Sexual Assault...Stop It!

Critique of No more tolerance for sexual assault

Editorial Board of Austin American Statesman [NEWSPAPER]

         The title says it all. It’s about time the military acted on their empty promises of dealing with sexual assault. I heartily agree with the authors’ conclusions (few would be brazen enough to contest these claims). The logic is as follows: sexual assault is bad (we can go ahead and take that for granted), it is happening in the military (over 31 female recruits reported sexual harassment or assault in the past year or so at Lackland Air Force Training Base) and it should stop…now. The authors go on to describe how military instructors hold a unique degree of power and that two of the main problems are females’ fear of reprimand and other instructors' fear of falling out of tight-knit groups. The authors suggest that “soul-inhabiting indoctrination” so common to basic training is also an issue. This is an incredibly important point and one that the Editorial Board does well in highlighting. It’s a culture issue. There’s a certain heady feeling of superiority that comes along with military rank (or any rank for that matter) and some individuals are bound to feel entitled to act as they please. And while some degree of physically taxing initiation may be beneficial in teaching discipline and respect, there is a line that cannot be crossed and that line is sexual harassment. This fact has to become part of the military culture. Instructors who witness transgressions should become more fearful of NOT reporting the cases than of reporting them. But before that cultural shift occurs, Lackland and other military institutions must illustrate that they mean to punish the transgressors. And, the authors note, the military is doing so with investigations and the creation of special victims units…albeit years after they should have.

        While I find the article's logic easy to follow and motivating, a few statistics are included at the end of the article that seem a bit questionable (or at least lacking sufficient explanation), including “A Pentagon survey estimated that only 13.5 percent of sexual assaults were reported in 2010. The actual number of sexual assaults that year [at Lackland] may be closer to a shocking 19,000.” While these numbers are compelling, a description of how that 13.5 percent was derived would have made the case much stronger.   

        The authors’ credentials aren’t all too obvious, but they don’t need to be.  Given our national agreement of the heinousness of sexual misconduct, most people who look at the data would come to the same conclusion. And while the authors don’t specifically acknowledge their audience, in all likelihood it’s the general public. Since the military has failed so miserably dealing with its sexual assault problems internally, the plea seems to be going out to the individuals who can better hold the military accountable -- ordinary people. They are the ones who pay taxes and elect officials who have the power to enact legislation and withhold military funding.

Get your act together, military, or the Austin American Statesman will sic the general public on you.