i know i have seen some discussions already on rape in the military, but i was wondering why it is taken so lightly. i am currently attending warrior training in the recruit sustainment program in my states national guard, and was faced with one incident of people laughing and joking about rape, like rape is a joke. we were learning combatives that day and the cadre were saying to do a date rape choke, then they all started to laugh. to me, rape is not funny, being a victim of rape and knowing how painful and how long it took for me to get over the rape and feelings of it really made me mad when the cadre who were supposed to be leaders made a joke out of it. i looked around to other womens faces as the men made a joke of it, and a lot of the women werent laughing, then i wondered to myself, how many women fell victim to rape and havent told anyone about it, or just havent overcome the full effects of it yet. it really made me mad, and i just wanted to share this with everyone and just ask, how do you deal with something like this, and why doesnt anyone take it more seriously?

Miss Kitty,

Sorry to hear about your incident. I don't think rape is taken lightly in the military; most often it is the contrary.

Rape is an ugly word that gives a lot of people the heebie jeebies. Its discussion makes some uncomfortable. "Rape" is heavy in social stigma and misunderstanding, particularly among the young kids hearing horror stories of false accusations. So they deal with it by joking.

While I can't be sure, I think the problem here isn't that they don't take rape seriously (if it had been their sister or daughter, they'd speak in a different tone), but rather a lack of delicacy in handling the subject. Some people in uniform suffer from a serious deficiency in tact and social skills.

If the conversation came and went and all is well between you and your leadership, I say let it go. If it is a regular problem, discreetly (and politely) let the offender know your situation, ensuring you expect it to remain private. Thank him for listening to your concern and carry on smartly. I'm almost certain you won't have future issues.

Good luck.

R/

thanks so much for some more good advice. it was again very helpful.

If it bothered you that much you should have taken it up the chain of command...I would have. That is unacceptable behavior in today's military. Zero tolerance!

quote:

Originally posted by ArmyKitty2008:
i know i have seen some discussions already on rape in the military, but i was wondering why it is taken so lightly. i am currently attending warrior training in the recruit sustainment program in my states national guard, and was faced with one incident of people laughing and joking about rape, like rape is a joke. we were learning combatives that day and the cadre were saying to do a date rape choke, then they all started to laugh. to me, rape is not funny, being a victim of rape and knowing how painful and how long it took for me to get over the rape and feelings of it really made me mad when the cadre who were supposed to be leaders made a joke out of it. i looked around to other womens faces as the men made a joke of it, and a lot of the women werent laughing, then i wondered to myself, how many women fell victim to rape and havent told anyone about it, or just havent overcome the full effects of it yet. it really made me mad, and i just wanted to share this with everyone and just ask, how do you deal with something like this, and why doesnt anyone take it more seriously?

I haven't posted over here in over a year and I think it's sad this is all that's said on this topic for active duty women with deaths like Maria Lautenbach and now the recent death at Fort Bragg. "In the world of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."George Orwell 1984 Truth is the military jokes about it too much still!

Hey Kitty,

My rape occurred for 9 years at home from my military father. Then in 77 when I was in Basic, some guy with no face grabbed me and threw me down in the bushes at Ft. McClellan. Today, I have been diagnosed with PTSD and treated by VA mental health for panic/anxiety attacks and nightmares. The military wants to pursue it, but they want me to relive it all. It is far too painful to discuss, so I just take the drugs and deal with it. If something has happened to you and you can pursue punishment of your rapist, do so NOW! It will not disappear from your life as you get older. God Bless you!

Thanks for your posts.

sheltgrl- This is a forum I think you might find of interest. Here

quote:

Originally posted by ArmyKitty2008:
i know i have seen some discussions already on rape in the military, but i was wondering why it is taken so lightly <snip> why doesnt anyone take it more seriously?

Kitty, in case you don't know, here is an excerpt from Article 120 of the UCMJ:

quote:

Any person subject to this chapter who commits an act of sexual intercourse, by force and without consent, is guilty of rape and shall be punished by death or such other punishment as a court-martial may direct.

That means that the military has the highest penalty for rape of ANY court in the nation. No state, not one, can give the death penalty for rape. Civilian rapists are actually protected by the Constitution from being given the death penalty, even in cases of child rape. As far as joking about it, in most co-ed units, joking about rape could (and does) get the "joker" a career-ending sexual harrasment charge. Now, while it is regretful that rape still occurs and still gets joked about, saying that the military "takes it lightly" isn't accurate. I'm sure the military can do more to encourage those who are victims of rape and harrasment to come forward, but an appropriate punishment for rapists in the military is certainly available.

having just pcs'd from Korea I can tell you that rape is prolly the most serious crime one can commit in the USAF short of murder. there were sooo many rape cases while i was there it was mindboggling. every week there was a new blotter about a possible rape case or sexual assault. i think the major issue is that alot of G.I. girls over there were very naive to the dangers of going out and getting drunk and what have you and then not having friends to look after them. there was a mindset that they could just go out and do whatever and if something happened that they didn't want or whatever they could just say rape and that would alleviate everything. it makes it hard for the girls who actually got raped and had legit cases...

I am new to this so i'll be careful.
i was in the military from 74-77 in germany, mp.
the woman were billeted on the 3rd floor, men on the 1st & 2nd. one night i woke up to a "fellow" mp who i barely spoke to. he was very quiet. i woke up to him with his hands on my thigh. I jumped up, grabbed my iron and told him to get the hell out. he seemed like he was on some kind of drug. To make a long story short, he did the same thing to a girl in the room next to mine but she got it worse. the stupid man left his flip flops in her room with his name on them. We pressed charges, had an article 32 hearing and the first question to us was "what did you do to make him want to touch you?" i was mortified. needless to say, we were harrassed by his friends, threatened and the "perp" was discharged with an honorable discharge two weeks later. Nothing happened. i was a "serious incident report" clerk and could not BELIEVE the amount of rapes, sodomy, sexual assault that came thru my desk. unfortunately i am of the opinion if you're not married, stay that way. men were born to pro-create and are pretty much always thinking of sex.

It has been 51 years since the military hung a rapist!

"Members of the U.S. military have been executed throughout history, but just 10 have been executed by presidential approval since 1951, when the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military's modern-day legal system, was enacted into law.
President Kennedy was the last president to stare down this life-or-death decision. On Feb. 12, 1962, Kennedy commuted the death sentence of Jimmie Henderson, a Navy seaman, to confinement for life.
President Eisenhower was the last president to approve a military execution. In 1957, he approved the execution of John Bennett, an Army private convicted of raping and attempting to kill an 11-year-old Austrian girl. He was hanged in 1961.
Gray was held responsible for the crimes he committed in both the civilian and military justice systems." AP news

Sheltgirl is right... this doesn't go away so report it while you can. Those of us who lived in the days when there were no means of reporting know that it doesn;t go away with time.

Sheltgrl: You're a wonderfully made child of God and are loved...believe it.

I was a WAC once, but transferred branches later on in my career.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tower_Flower,

Taken so lightly because the UCMJ is not enforced, and some girls play right in to the male sterotype, making it almost impossible to have credibility if taken to "task".

The main problem the military has regarding rape and sexual assault, is most of the rapists are officers or superiors. The ones you are supposed to report these incidences to. The majority of co's do not want their bases marred by reports of rape. The USMJ has explicit details on how to handle sexual assault/rapes, but leaves out a very important issue: how to monitor the CO's way of handling the situation. When a female reports a rape, they are shamed, told to suck it up, given death threats, put in harms way, and may be given a dishonorable discharge saying they are unfit for duty. Thereby putting the blame of the victim rather than the perpetrator(s). As an advocate and victim of rape in the military, I strongly urge that we pressure the military to follow the UCMJ in the proper administration of the law and protect victims instead of protecting the perpetrators.

Women Veterans of America

I agree!

Well done 114.......

quote:

Originally posted by 11456219:
The main problem the military has regarding rape and sexual assault, is most of the rapists are officers or superiors. The ones you are supposed to report these incidences to. The majority of co's do not want their bases marred by reports of rape. The USMJ has explicit details on how to handle sexual assault/rapes, but leaves out a very important issue: how to monitor the CO's way of handling the situation. When a female reports a rape, they are shamed, told to suck it up, given death threats, put in harms way, and may be given a dishonorable discharge saying they are unfit for duty. Thereby putting the blame of the victim rather than the perpetrator(s). As an advocate and victim of rape in the military, I strongly urge that we pressure the military to follow the UCMJ in the proper administration of the law and protect victims instead of protecting the perpetrators.

Women Veterans of America

First, you can't find a single statistic to back the claim up that most rapists are superiors. Matter of fact, just like most other rapes, the perpetrators are peers.

Second, I don't know how long you've been out of the military, but COs don't handle rape accusations. They go straight to JAG.

Third, when someone does report a rape or sexual assault, they aren't shamed, but they ARE asked to submit a polygraph, along with the accused. Now, if you think polygraphing is shaming, well, sorry, but given that 25% of assault accusations are later shown to be false (by the accuser's own admission), the military seems to want a little verification before charging someone with a Capital crime.

Fourth, the military does handle rapes/sexual assualts according the the UCMJ...at least, the cases I witnessed were handled in such a way. Now, charges may have been dropped when the accuser admitted she made the accusation because her NCO wouldn't let her off work early, but that doesn't mean the accusation wasn't handled accordingly.

Lastly, I'll reiterate: just because you had one experience doesn't mean that experience is across the board. For every rape that occurs, there is an accusation that turns out to be a case of "I didn't know sex violated General Order #2...I was raped, yeah, that's right. Oh, you're going to make me take a polygraph? Well, maybe it wasn't rape after all".

So, there are two problems:
1. We don't execute rapists
2. We don't execute false accusers

We start doing those two things, I bet everyone will start acting right.

As early as June 2007 a protective order was in place against Corporal Cesar Laurean, age 21, for the protection of Lance CpL. Maria Lauterbach , age 20. Maria told the Marines he had raped her and was the father of her unborn son.
Did the Marines do a rape kit? Did they prosecute the "alleged" rape in normal proceedings? No!

They told her they didn't believe her! Her so-called joke of a victims advocate told her she believed Laurean and he held more credibility than Lauterbach. (not her call to make!)

Maria's charred remains were found January 12, 2008, almost a month after her murder (December 15, 2007), after Christine, Laurean's wife, finally told police where she was, "cooperating with authorities."

Where were the Marines when Laurean took a bus cross country in Raleigh-Durham to Houston and then to San Luis Potosi using an alias "Armando Ramirez," the same last name as his 31 year old cousin who saw him mid January? The Marines don't even know if Laurean retained his Mexican citizenship it seems! Capt. Rick Sutherland, spokesman for the Onslow County Sheriff's Office that has had jurisdiction of the murder doesn't seem to be getting much out of the Marines. They didn't even let him know about the rape charges or Laurean until January 7, 2008, 20 days after Maria disappeared. In fact, most information has come to light through the authorities at the sherriff's office teaming up with "America's Most Wanted" TV show!

Laurean himself has a child of 18 months old but that didn't stop him from running away like the gutless coward he is. Some Marine! Colonel Gary Sokoloski, the judge advocate general officer for the Marine Expeditionary Force claimed Laurean never violated the protective order to stay away from Lauterbach. Duh, Dude! She's dead! Obviously he did! But because Laurean reported to work and denied sexual contact Sokoloski believed him even though Maria months earlier had told her superiors he had raped her and she was pregnant by him. They alleged they asked her if she felt threatened.(Rape charges weren't enough?)

The Marines or FBI didn't act on tips in Morrisville, NC at the hotel or bother to notify the police until after her death but did bother to consider UA charges and list her as a deserter even as they interviewed him December 27, 2007! This sounds too familiar to those of us who know too well how the military handles rape! Rape should be taken out of the military jurisdiction completely!

In June, the decomposing body of Spc. Megan Touma, of Cold Spring, Ky., was discovered in a motel near Fort Bragg. Authorities have stressed it has no connection to Wimunc's death.


Edgar Patima, 27, married soldier also stationed at Fort Bragg, was arrested in connection with Megan Tuma's murder. ( 7 months pregnant)

Again the Army never looked for her even though she was dead for a week! She had been stationed with him and told her friends he proposed to her. She was wearing a ring and said the baby was his. When she showed up at Fort Bragg she thought he would be divorced but he was not.

Touma, a five-year veteran of the Army, had served with the U.S. Army Dental
Activity Clinic in Bamberg, Germany, and in Fort Drum, New York, before her
stint at Fort Bragg.


Two of Touma's friends told CNN that Touma and Patino had been stationed
together in Germany and dated in the past.


Touma's friends said Patino proposed to her in Germany before Touma learned,
on her return to North Carolina, that Patino was still married