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More than a dozen female and two male current or former service members say servicemen get away with rape and other sexual abuse and victims are too often ordered to continue to serve alongside those they say attacked them.
In one incident, an Army Reservist says two male colleagues raped her in Iraq and videotaped the attack. She complained to authorities after the men circulated the video to colleagues. Despite being bruised from her shoulders to elbows from being held down, she says charges weren't filed because the commander determined she "did not act like a rape victim" and "did not struggle enough" and authorities said they didn't want to delay the scheduled return of the alleged attackers to the United States.
The makers of The Invisible War solicited personal stories from victims and interviewed about 70 for hours each. At one point in the theatrical trailer, one woman, Kori Cioca, who says she was raped by her supervisor in the U.S. Coast Guard, brandished a hand knife with a blade longer than her fingers, explaining how she carries it on her at all times. You always have protection with Jesus but sometimes you need just a little bit more, said Cioca, who was also holding a metal cross.
According to the Defense Departments Sexual Assault Prevention and Response report for 2011, of the 2,617 reported assaults, it is estimated that the figure represents only 14 percent of all actual offenses, making the total number of victims at 19,000 last year. Of the 2011 sexual assaults, 191 military members were convicted as courts-martial, according to the films website. Ciocas attacker admitted to breaking her jaw and other physical abuse but not the rape, according to the film. She is now battling with Veterans Affairs to win approval for surgery.
In addition to numerous victims, the documentary interviews military and defense personnel, elected officials, mental health professionals and others. Besides attempting to chronicle the crimes, the film aims to expose how the threat persists and how wide-spread the damage can be. The military is a very effective fighting force when it comes to dealing with the enemy without. Its really now time for them to start dealing with this enemy within, said one of the filmmakers Kirby Dick. Among other awards, The Invisible War won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and is set to open at select theaters June 22.
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predictable in a volunteer military
bring back the draft
The study based on anonymous surveys of female servicemembers who deployed to war suggest a far higher prevalence of sexual misconduct against women in war zones than is reflected by complaints gathered by the various service branches. In February, more than 20,000 women were serving in Afghanistan. In the preceding year, only 115 reports were filed alleging sexual assault, according to the Pentagon.
The findings show that there are traumatic strains beyond combat when troops go to war, said Amy Street, a lead researcher, clinical psychologist and a deputy director at one of VA's National Centers for PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorders) in Boston.
The "lion's share of the attention ... has focused on combat exposure," said Street, adding that her study shows how sexual harassment and sexual assault on U.S. troops and their emotional consequences also are a cost of war. Nate Galbreath, a senior adviser for the Pentagon's sexual assault prevention office, said reports of any abuse concern him. He said he's withholding an assessment of Street's findings until he better understands how the research was conducted.
Culture hasn't changed
The Navys peer-mentoring program Coalition of Sailors Against Destructive Decisions is holding informational sessions on family planning throughout January covering topics that include parental leave, operational deferment and the best forms of birth control. Unintended pregnancy is a significant problem across the general population, but the Navys rate is higher. In 2006, about 49 percent of all pregnancies in the United States were classified as unplanned, according to 2011 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Up to 65 percent of pregnancies in the military are self-reported as unplanned, according to a December report by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women. Nearly three-fourths of all Navy pregnancies were unplanned, according to a recent parenthood survey conducted by the service. Of those, only 31 percent of the couples were using birth control at the time they conceived. With pregnancies involving enlisted servicewomen, 70 percent of the fathers were also in the military. It is a very high number, said Eleanor Schwarz, director of the Womens Health Services Research Unit at the University of Pittsburgh. It probably does point to a need to try to improve the situation.
As part of the awareness campaign, the Navy is highlighting the impact unplanned pregnancy can have on a servicemembers career. A pregnant sailor can be disqualified from a sea duty position needed for career advancement. An unexpected spike in personal and financial responsibilities can also jeopardize operational mission readiness, and disrupt careers, according to the Navy news release on the awareness campaign. Nearly 8 percent of sailors with children are single parents, according to the Navy. Of those, 12,000 are men and 6,000 are women. We want you to continue your career in the Navy, and we want to make sure that child is cared for as well, said Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education Fleet Master Chief Scott Benning in a statement. Its a holistic view of the whole situation, it is not about trying to tell someone not to have a family.
Womens rights groups and health organizations in recent years have urged the military to make contraception more readily available for deployed servicemembers and veterans. Contraceptive counseling is available to all women in the military, but effective birth control can be limited because of the nature of the job, according to the recent report by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Deployed servicewomen may need to change their contraceptive methods because not all combat areas or bases stock certain birth control tools, such as patches, injections or contraceptive rings, the report found.
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"The first female combat veterans of the United States have just been elected to the Congress and they're both from Hawaii," Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Friday during a ceremony marking the start of the homeless program, a collaborative effort between The United States Veterans Initiative of Hawaii and the YWCA of Oahu. "It was just something to see that new representative of Illinois (Tammy Duckworth), but from McKinley High School, coming up the steps of the Capitol yesterday on her prostheses, walking on her own with (U.S. Rep.) Tulsi Gabbard," Abercrombie said. "Those two that's the new world."
Abercrombie stressed that when women began having a larger presence in the armed services and in combat zones such as the Balkans in the 1990s the country was not prepared for how that would fundamentally change the veteran population. "This is a challenge for us here in the United States to come to grips with; something we have ignored," Abercrombie said, talking about homeless female veterans. "Not necessarily deliberately people don't even have a clue that this is going on. It doesn't occur to anybody that this is something we have to face as a nation. This is an entirely new construct for us."
Kimberly Miyazawa Frank, chief executive officer of YWCA of Oahu, was inspired to establish a local program to help homeless female veterans get jobs during a meeting of the Rotary Club of Hono*lulu. At the meeting, Darryl Vincent, U.S. VETS chief operating officer, explained that his organization wasn't serving many women because its program and facilities were predominantly tailored to help men. Of the 98 beds available for homeless veterans at the U.S. VETS Barbers Point location, about four are occupied by women at any given time. "Darryl admitted that those numbers were very low, lower than he would have liked to admit," Miya*zawa Frank said. "And he explained that with women veterans in addition to the reintegration challenges that are faced by men PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), depression, substance abuse many women veterans also face MST: military sexual trauma."
Steve Peck, president and CEO of U.S. VETS, said Friday that he initially had trouble finding homeless veterans to sign up for the nation's first women-focused program when he worked to establish it in Long Beach, Calif., in 2001 because it did not focus on dealing with traumatic sexual experiences. "We had to handle that first, so we wrote another grant that provided the treatment for sexual trauma with the Long Beach VA, (and) the program filled like that," Peck said, snapping his fingers. "We were getting women from all over the country because of that program. That was 12 years ago, and we've been trying to open another program ever since."
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Officials say a bipartisan group of about a dozen senators and representatives were invited to attend the discussion with White House staff Thursday. President Barack Obama won't attend since he is traveling to Texas.
A new report shows up to 26,000 military members were sexually assaulted last year. Obama has said he has no tolerance for the problem and the Pentagon must address it. The officials weren't authorized to speak on the record and thus requested anonymity.
The discussion was to be led by Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and Tina Tchen, the first lady's chief of staff. Both are members of the president's Council on Women and Girls.
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Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, of Arlington, Va., was arrested early Sunday morning, according to the Arlington police. Hes accused of approaching a woman in a parking lot and grabbing her breasts and buttocks, according to the crime report. He has been removed from his position, said Air Force spokeswoman Lt. Col. Laurel Tingley. Krusinski was released Sunday on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond.
On Capitol Hill to testify on the defense budget, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the Air Force has requested jurisdiction in the Krusinski case from prosecutors in Arlington, where he will be arraigned on one count of sexual battery. A decision on jurisdiction should be made at that time, Welsh said. We have requested jurisdiction, which is standard procedure in cases like these, Welsh said.
In a call Monday evening with Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel expressed outrage and disgust over the troubling allegations, Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement, which did not mention Krusinski by name. Hagel emphasized that this matter will be dealt with swiftly and decisively, Little said. Little said Hagel has been directing the departments leaders to elevate their focus on sexual assault prevention and response, and he will soon announce next steps in our ongoing efforts to combat this vile crime.
Krusinski has served in Afghanistan, in addition to serving as the deputy expeditionary mission support group commander at Joint Base Balad in Iraq, and commander of 6th Force Support Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla. He attended the U.S. Air Force Academy, where he lettered in baseball. In 2009, Krusinski was recognized by Air Mobility Commands Manpower, Personnel and Services Directorate as its Force Support Field Grade Officer of the Year while assigned to MacDill, according to an archived news release on the Air Forces web site. Krusinskis arrest comes at a time when the Pentagon and the Air Force are already under intense scrutiny for not doing enough to stop sexual assault among the ranks following several high-profile incidents.
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