That’s the daunting fate American servicewomen face today. Rep. Jane Harman, chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee, sheds light on the problem in a Los Angeles Times op-ed today. She writes:
The scope of the problem was brought into acute focus for me during a visit to the West Los Angeles VA Healthcare Center, where I met with female veterans and their doctors. My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41% of female veterans seen at the clinic say they were victims of sexual assault while in the military, and 29% report being raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and the downward spirals many of their lives have since taken. …
At the heart of this crisis is an apparent inability or unwillingness to prosecute rapists in the ranks. According to DOD statistics, only 181 out of 2,212 subjects investigated for sexual assault in 2007, including 1,259 reports of rape, were referred to courts-martial, the equivalent of a criminal prosecution in the military. Another 218 were handled via nonpunitive administrative action or discharge, and 201 subjects were disciplined through “nonjudicial punishment,” which means they may have been confined to quarters, assigned extra duty or received a similar slap on the wrist. In nearly half of the cases investigated, the chain of command took no action; more than a third of the time, that was because of “insufficient evidence.”
Congress and the White House must step up to require military accountability on sexual assault. Guaranteeing servicewomen access to birth control and emergency contraception in military hospitals and on bases would be another step in the right direction. That’s a policy Hillary Clinton has championed.
—Dana Goldstein
