38 Men Raped in U.S. Military Each Day

Incredibly disturbing news:

https://www.thedailybeast.com/38-men-raped-in-us-military-each-day

What is Trump doing to stop this crisis?

Were the rapes/murders of Iraqi children by US soldiers part of a culture of rape in our Armed Forces?

Snip:

While most of the fire from the public and Congress directed at the military addresses women who are sexually assaulted, more than half of victims are male. According to the Pentagon, 38 military men are sexually assaulted every single day, and because of the stigma, culprits nearly always go free because the survivors don’t want to speak. As one Veterans Affairs psychologist notes, "One of the myths is that the perpetrators identify as gay, which is by and large not the case. It's not about the sex. It's about power and control."

Why isn't this being discussed, addressed and condemned?

What are the safety implications going forward, and the possible psychological impact of this epidemic of assault?

 

You just did.

 

Dateline on article is 2014.

 

I wonder what the racial/ethnic composition of the perpetrators is made up of.

Likely we will never be informed.

Trans men/women serving in the armed forces are especially targeted.
(Either because everyone suspects the trans man may have a functioning vagina, or because the trans woman is the closest thing to a woman the rapists have available)

 

In my experience in the military, if there were 38 assaults happening a day, there would also be 38 emergency room visits a day.....One wonders if the Daily Beast did any actual research here, or if the VA psychologist was their only source? And wouldn't it make sense for a VA psychologist to say this when trying to find public support for the pet research project...? Cause that never happens... right?

 

Absolutely correct - I posted the wrong article.

Good catch.

 

This would be across all branches; sounds legit.

 

Ok, why?

 

Srsly?

Where does one begin...

"This is my ****, this is my gun...?"

 

Based on what?

 

Hmm. you watched a movie? That sounds unlikely to be admissible in court...

 

I didn't even know that instructive chant was in a movie (Full Metal Jacket?) until someone mentioned it, so no.

 

So you posted the wrong article, sounds like you are trying to pin something on Trump that was happening under Obama. I just love how disingenuous the left is. The simple fact that you are only try to blame Trump, like this is the culture he fosters put you in a very bad light. If one was honest you would have not brought politics into this and just asked the question what are Americans going to do about this. I have a feeling that if Clinton was president you would have not even made this post. So in the end nice try, but a swing and a miss.

 

As stated, my experience. As in witness to both the pass made and the penalty beat down that then occurred.

 

Naw; just a mistake. Meh. Naw. Cuz this is the NOTPoliticsForum? Incorrect. Naw.

 

So your conflating rape with propositioning someone for consensual sex?

Wow.

 

When senior enlisted or officers that outrank the victim make the pass, how many times were they “beat down”?

 

A few years ago I posted a link from the Congressional hearings under Bush which initially reached the same conclusion. Naturally, it was ignored.

By the way, these numbers only represent the reported rapes. The vast majority go unreported.

 

In both instances I am aware of, both times. Both were Majors, and neither major pursued action after their beat down at the hands of the enlisted they offended.

 

Well, your anecdotal evidence represents exceptions based on the evidence that actually does exist.

 

What evidence? The opinion of one guy at the VA who hasn't actually ever even surveyed for it? I find it super difficult to believe. Or, more likely, there is a whole ton of projection going on on the part of the psychologist.

You know what does happen? Women officers subjecting their enlisted male service guys to their exploitation. Happened a lot. But then, male service members aren't going to hit a female officer. Ever. It's like a lifetime invitation to Leavenworth. What also happens? Senior enlisted guys preying on young enlisted women. And you know what else happens? Young enlisted women preying on senior enlisted and officer males. Happens. Lots. But what I can say, again from my experience is a whole lot of nothing men to men unless it's consented to. And when it isn't, things end up getting physical. because they can. Oh, and something not also illuminated is senior women and junior women. Also happens. A lot. And lots of it isn't consensual. I am aware of a very senior female SGT Major and a young SPC in the army that went to blows as well. In public. In a bar.

 

^ Sidestepping.

 

^ Also being sidestepped.

 

And this is what I love when people read something, and then take it completely out of context.

There are not "38 men raped", and every single time I read things like this, it makes me sad for the lack of intelligence in those who make those claims.

The military does not collect statistics like that. There is absolutely no data ever collected regarding individuals that are "raped". What it collects statistics for is members who are sexually assaulted.

And yes, that does include rape, but it also constitutes any form of unwanted physical contact. It may be as simple as running their hand on their butt, under military definition that is a "sexual assault".

And finally, it only collects statistics where the individual assaulted was in the military. Not who the perp was who did it. It may be a civilian contractor, it may be some stranger out in town at a bar, or it may be another member of the military.

And yes, I was in a unit where this is exactly what happened. A guy was in a bar, and somebody drugged his drink. He came to some time later in the middle of nowhere, and another man (civilian) was raping him. He got away, CID and El Paso PD did an investigation, but the guy was a Mexican National and went back to Mexico so he was never captured.

But in the statistics for 2008, he went down in the military records as a "Military Sexual Assault".

So remember this, anybody that wants to take any kind of statistics and turn it into some kind of attack, you look silly unless you actually understand what the statistics mean. Sexual assault is not rape, and what the military tracks is the identity of the victim of an assault, not the person who commits the assault.

And finally, there is little that can really be done, because over half (close to 2/3) of sexual crimes in the military are reported by the victim as a "Restricted" report. That means that there is no investigation made, and the military law enforcement agencies are never informed of the attack. This is done by the victim, it is at their request that no further action is taken.

 

And the very first sentence of the article shows that the headline is a lie.

However, what is "Sexual Assault?" Well, the military actually defines it quite clearly. Here is the literal military definition of what a "Sexual Assault" is:

Sexual Assault is a crime. Sexual assault is defined as intentional sexual contact, characterized by use of force, threats, intimidation or abuse of authority, or when the victim does not or cannot consent.

Sexual assault includes rape, forcible sodomy (oral or anal sex), and other unwanted sexual contact that is aggravated, abusive, or wrongful (including unwanted and inappropriate sexual contact) or attempts to commits these acts.

http://www.sexualassault.army.mil/faqs.aspx#question1

Yes, rape is indeed sexual assault. But it is like the old mind game, where all cats are mammals, but not all mammals are cats. Same thing here. All rape is sexual assault, but not all sexual assault is rape. Groping somebody is certainly not rape, but it is sexual assault. Pushing somebody against a wall and trying to kiss them is not rape, but it is sexual assault.

But like most civilian organizations with an axe to grind, they do not even bother to look up what the actual definition is, then run with what they think it is. Sloppy reporting, and highly misleading. Then as they hope, others then pick it up and run with it, and the original lie simply magnifies until what people say is not anywhere even close to the truth anymore.