America's Military Women Deal with a Universal, Homegrown Enemy Called Sexual Abuse

Specialist Erica A. Beck, a mechanic and gunner who served in in Iraq, recalled a sexual proposition she called “inappropriate.” She did not report it, she said, because she feared that her commanders would have reacted harshly — toward her. via Moises Saman for The New York Times

RedTracker| The NYTimes writes an in-depth consideration of the peril some US military women experience at the groping and worse hands of US military men.

The taboo subject that few want to tackle — and that includes women milliary members reluctant to accuse the men of “their team” in the midst of armed conflict against an enemy— is getting a wider hearing.

Sexual harassment, stalking and worse is a problem for select women and men serving together in war zones.

In a first, the Defense Tak Forces on Sexual Assault in the Military Services has requested that victims of sexual abuse come foreward in an attempt to improve the system. By the Pentagon’s own estimates, fewer than 10% of military sexual assaults are reported.

Read A Peril in War Zones: Sexual Abuse by Fellow G.I’s.  New York Times