Military Rape Awareness Week
The Veterans for Peace have declared this “Military Rape Awareness Week” and announce that they’re so enlightened, that they actually oppose rape in the military.
Actually, I oppose rape, too. But can anyone doubt that Veterans For Peace oppose rape because they can use it to smear the troops? In, fact, if you heard that this crowd of anti-troops organizations were protesting at a military recruiting station in Times Square, would you really think they were protesting rape?
In New York City on Tuesday, October 13th members of VFP, Iraq Veterans against the War, Granny Peace Brigade, Codepink: Women for Peace, World Can’t Wait, Artists Response Team, We will not be Silent, and V-Day will gather at the Armed Forces Recruiting Station in Times Square to warn potential women recruits about the alarming rates of sexual assault and rape of women in the military.
Of course, they really had to dig to find a “scientific” study (link is to a .pdf file) that would back their charge that 1-in-3 women in the military are raped. If you look at the sampling for the “study”, the “researchers” sent out questionnaires to more than 2100 women and less than a third replied. I guess it never entered their pointy heads that women who had suffered rape while in the military would be more likely to reply, huh?
I don’t doubt that rape is a problem in the military – even if there was only one rape in twenty years, it’s a problem. But 1-in-3 women? Of course, the study further prostitutes itself by pointing out that 75% of the victims never report those rapes. Oh, and did I mention that the report was done in 1996 and the women were in the military in the previous twenty years?
But no corrupted study will prevent the forces of peace and enlightenment from standing their unwashed asses in front of a recruiting station and accusing recruiters of facilitating rape.
The other day, we saw a video of Matthis Chiroux who charged the military with “dehumanizing” foreigners. The anti-war crowd “dehumanizes” the entire military by making specious charges like this. This is the 21st Century version of spitting on the troops.
I remember the anti-war protests ended during the Vietnam War when once, in New York City, construction workers got tired of the hippies protesting one day. The construction workers climbed down off of their steel perches and proceeded to pound the protesters.
I’m just sayin’….
Category: Antiwar crowd, Code Pink, Iraq Veterans Against the War
You know VFP are just idiots. Really. To stand in front of a recruiting station just to spit some more and be noticed? Spare me.
Rape happens because another person sees fit to exert control over another. It happens everywhere, not just the military. And if one doesn’t know what is right, like the VFP idiots and others, why, blame the troops, of course! Buddy fuckers to the end.
Artists Response Team!
No construction worker would dare to go up against those folks.
Damn Jonn… I can’t the image of their response training out of my head. Bitch slapping 101? Butch insulting 101?
And just what do they respond to?
I was in the Army’s “Navy” in the ’80’s. Stationed in Virgina. I was one of two women (we were cute back in the day :), on a vessel with about 90 men, during a training session. Gentlemen, all of them! I love men, am the mother of a son, and these type of reports make me sick. The men I served with in the Army were damn good men and honored women!!
Personally, I’m really glad they’re doing this “Military Rape Awareness Week” as I was previously unaware of the possibility of rape occurring in the military.
It’s like when I didn’t find out about AIDS until 2004, when somebody at my college did an AIDS Awareness Day.
Of the women I personally know who have been raped, none of them have served in the military. Of all the men I met during my husband’s 20 year career, none that I know of have been accused of rape. As defendUSA said, rape happens everywhere.
Problem is all the construction workers in NYC are Mexican and PR’s now.
I can’t keep track of these comments! rape happens everywhere (defendusa) but retwife uses a personal example that no military women she knows were raped and no military men had raped and lisa echo’s the same.
you don’t have to like the messenger, but honestly, using anecdotes like the above anecdotes only serve to push rape further into the shadows.
the reason it is different than civilian rape is lack of an independent justice system and not having the ability to leave the job or location it happened in due to the obvious restrictions of military life. and rape is already under reported, so to not know of any rapes doesn’t equate that they aren’t happening.
there were 900 reported rapes in the last SAPRO report. that doesn’t count sexual assaults. of the 3000 total reports only 300 went to courts martial. that is lower than civilain rates of trial.
rape in the military is not just like rape in civilain life. reporting is low, punishment is spotty and shame is compounded by attitudes of indifference or disbelief. I hope the new “I Am Strong” campaign reaches its goal of making sexual assault everyones problem to address.
Anecdotaly (for you, Jen) Code Pink wymym (and some of the beta males) are just extremely jealous of military women and all the men they attract. Code Pink wymyn would loved to be man handled by the real men in the recruiting stations, but they are waaaaaaaaaaaay too hairy and smelly for any recruiter to get near.
“The Veterans for Peace have declared this “Military Rape Awareness Week”
So they will denounce politicians for using operational funds in the defense budget for pork projects?
Jen said: rape in the military is not just like rape in civilain life.
I dunno, rape is rape. I can’t see the reasoning behind your statement. There may well be a difference in how the crime is dealt with, but the crime is the same.
Most certainly the military is different in the way crimes are adjudicated… But it’s also different in myriad ways.