Violated Bodies: Combat Injuries and Sexual Assault in the U.S. Military (original) (raw)
Related papers
2010
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)%%%%The primary objective of this pilot study was to understand the military experiences of OEF/OIF women veterans. Seven women veterans described accounts of sexual harassment and sexual assault, also known in the Veteran Health Administration (VHA) context as Military Sexual Trauma (MST). The prevalence and dialogue of MST both explicitly and implicitly throughout all the interviews justified examining MST on its own. As an alternative to tracking new cases of MST, this thesis provides an examination of the rhetoric of betrayal and suggests that objective knowledge of MST does not exist apart from such social conditions and one’s interpretations of them. Betrayal emerged as the way in which women veterans understood and made meaning of their MST experiences during the claims-making process. Women veterans incorporated strategies to manage the sexual harassment and sexual assault they experienced while in the military environ...
In the Viper Pit: Male Rape and Military Sexual Trauma (MST)
The Left Hand of Feminism: A Blog Inspired by Ursula K. LeGuin, 2013
This paper explores some of the bio-psycho-social-spiritual effects of sexual assault on male survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (MST). Although the percentage of female survivors of MST is greater than the percentage of male survivors, the number of men who have sustained this trauma far exceeds the number of female survivors, since the veteran population remains overwhelmingly male. Men who have been sexually assaulted are as likely if not more likely to develop post-traumatic stress syndrome as veterans who have experienced combat-related trauma. There is virtually no research on male survivors, who face some different problems than female survivors of MST and who generally have greater difficulty discussing or seeking treatment for their trauma. It is vital for social workers to educate themselves about men’s issues with MST and to develop novel ways to make it easier for male survivors to discuss their experiences.
This article presents an evolutionary framework for understanding the sexual assault of women in the military. We specify the evolutionary underpinnings of tensions among heterosexual males, among heterosexual females, and between males and females, and discuss how these tensions have played out in the strongly gendered context of warrior culture. In the absence of cultural interventions that take account of deep-seated conceptions of women in the military as unwelcome intruders, sexual resources for military men, or both, military women operate in an environment in which sexual assault may be deployed to enact and defend traditional military structures. We discuss how unit norms are likely to affect the choice of strategies by men and by women, and how the resulting behaviors--including celibacy, consensual sex, and sexual assault--should affect horizontal and vertical unit cohesion. The framework is intended to guide future data collection in theoretically coherent ways and to inform the framing and enforcement of policies regarding both consensual and non-consensual sex among military personnel.
Perceptions of Female Veteran Military Sexual Trauma: A Phenomenological Study
2019
Military sexual trauma (MST) occurs at devastating rates to service members, by service members, and is widely misunderstood, qualitatively understudied, and reporting may be procedurally biased. The purpose of this study was to phenomenologically explore the lived experiences of female veteran MST survivors with their leadership (chain of command/supervisors) and understand how military culture effects these individuals. A feminist-theory conceptual framework was applied to contextualize hegemonic hypermasculine military culture and the divide and damage it may cause to female service members before MST, when surviving an MST event, and when surviving post-MST fallout. This study included 10 participants who were female, experienced MST, and served in the military for at least 90 days. Through qualitative inquiry, participants were interviewed by telephone between July 2019 and September 2019. Each interview was recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using interpretive phenomenologica...
Western Journal of Communication, 2019
Storytelling has been central within the movement against military sexual violence. Among communication scholarship on narrative, there are both studies demonstrating that narrative begins to assuage sexual violence trauma and studies demonstrating that narrative reinforces gendered social norms that exacerbate sexual violence. I integrate this research with scholarship on rape culture to develop a typology of the characteristics of sexual violence stories that empower survivors and apply that typology to military sexual violence narratives. These characteristics include: 1) linking sexual violence to systemic/cultural norms through narrative’s ability to establish causality, 2) representing survivors as empowered experts by positioning storytelling as healing, and 3) modeling paths toward overcoming adversity. When used together, these strategies counter the harmful effects of stories that emphasize gendered norms of vulnerability.
Violence and Gender
Conduct a narrative review study to identify, evaluate, and summarize pertinent published literature on the influence of U.S. military culture on male victims of military sexual assault (MSA) and military sexual trauma (MST). Various aspects of military culture have been shown to contribute significantly to barriers of reporting, prevention, and social support for male service members who have experienced MST and MSA in the U.S. military forces. A variety of U.S. military cultural factors associated with barriers to reporting MST/MSA among male military service members and veterans were assessed and identified in this narrative review. Overall study findings suggest that increasing research on the impact of military culture and male MST and MSA is imperative in the effort to reduce and prevent sexual violence within the U.S. military armed forces. Various aspects of the U.S. military culture play a significant role in the influence of sexual assault occurrences that take place within U.S. military service units. Supporting evidence suggests that the U.S. military culture impacts the overall severity of barriers to reporting sexual assault and/or trauma among male military service members and veterans.
Signs, 2015
ABSTRACT In 2003, sixty-one women cadets reported sexual assault at the US Air Force Academy, prompting intense media scrutiny and congressional inquiry. The literature on these assaults draws primarily from media and military reports and surveys, with little attention to the daily, lived experience comprising the problematic gender climate. To address this gap, we employ retrospective participant observation spanning the 2003 crisis to explore the everyday gendered interactions and institutional structure that sustained the rape-prone environment. This study makes two primary contributions to the literature. First, we amend Philippe Bourgois’s continuum of violence to include militarization in order to detail more effectively the contribution of quotidian sexual harassment to a rape-prone culture. Second, we identify institutional features—adversative education, unit cohesion, and assessment—as key contributors to sexual harassment and assault and as contributors to victims’ reluctance to report these offenses. Our findings suggest the need for greater scrutiny of sexual harassment as well as intervention into problematic institutional features. We submit the gendered continuum of violence as a powerful analytical tool for feminist research with applications beyond the military, providing new insights into the resilience of gendered harassment and assault but also suggesting new avenues for change.
Masculinity, Organizational Culture, Media Framing and Sexual Violence in the Military
Social Sciences, 2018
Sexual violence in the military is woven into history, with stories and myths that date back to the times of ancient Rome. For example, military conquests thousands of years ago involved looting, pillaging, and raping-the "spoils of war" for the winning side. Over time, women, seen as sexual outlets, continued to be used to boost soldier morale in combat. Today, instances such as the Marine sexual misconduct scandal are still associated with notions of male empowerment through victimization of enlisted and civilian women, despite female officers making up 14% of service members across all military branches. To determine if the optics of violent and predatory behavior within the military has changed from the "spoils of war", the current study utilized qualitative content analysis to analyze the media frames of military sexual assault and sexual harassment over the past 20 years. Through holistic reflection, the inquiry explores military framing by the media during high-profile incidents of misconduct from 1996 to 2013. The Aberdeen Proving Ground, Lackland Airforce Base, and Airforce Academy sexual assault cases demonstrate that responsibility and human-interest frames are the most prominent optics used by the media to describe these events. Further, since the first case in 1996, media coverage of sexual harassment and assault within the military has declined significantly. This suggest that, while media framing may accurately reflect these offenses, these offenses are considered less and less news worthy.
CE: Military Sexual Trauma in Male Service Members
The American journal of nursing, 2016
I n June 2012, while he was stationed at Vogelweh Air Base in Germany, Trent Smith, a 19-year-old U.S. Airman 1st Class, says he was sexually assaulted in an off-base apartment by a higher-ranking male sergeant, a "unit sponsor" who was entrusted to ease the new recruit's transition to military life. 1, 2 Three days later Smith reported the incident in accordance with protocol and received counseling. 2 In Smith's description of the events, the male sergeant touched him and coerced him into having sex 1 : "I said, 'No, I don't want to spend the night,'" he reports. But feeling powerless in the situation, he "went along with it." Ultimately, an Air Force psychologist diagnosed him with a personality disorder and the Formal Physical Evaluation Board of the U.S. Air Force deemed him unfit for continued duty. The diagnosed personality disorder was said to make it impossible to treat the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Smith developed in the aftermath of that evening. 1, 2 In the end, the unit commander determined that there was no evidence of a crime. The sergeant who had been implicated in the incident was reprimanded for having relations with a lower-ranking service member but was allowed to remain in service. 1 Military sexual trauma (MST) is defined by federal law as "psychological trauma, which in the judgment of a mental health professional employed by the Department [of Veterans Affairs (VA)], resulted from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred while the veteran was serving on active duty, active duty ABSTRACT: The experience of military sexual trauma (MST), which can result from assault, battery, or harassment of a sexual nature, may jeopardize the mental health of service members as well as that of their family members, colleagues, and community members. Although a greater proportion of female than male service members are subjected to MST, the Department of Defense estimates that the absolute numbers of affected men and women, across all ranks and branches of military service, are nearly equal because roughly 85% of military members are men. Little research has explored the effects of MST on men. This article discusses the unique ways in which men may experience MST, and examines how social stereotypes of masculinity, myths surrounding sexual assault, and military culture and structure often influence a man's interpretation of an attack and his likelihood of reporting the incident or seeking treatment. It describes current treatments for MST-related mental health conditions and addresses implications for nurses and other health care professionals.
"Routine Trauma"-Awareness of Combat Trauma in Women Combatants
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2023
The current research aims to explore the nature of trauma experienced by female combatants. Method: Data were collected from two focus groups and a series of personal interviews with 100 women military veterans who had served in the Israel Defense Forces as combat or combat-support soldiers. Results: Interviews with these veterans revealed a variety of narratives about their war experiences, including an intertwining of the emotional and the physical. The ongoing danger and traumatic events that the combatants and combat-support soldiers faced on a daily basis were woven into their stories. These narratives indicated that-alongside their exposure to traumatic and potentially life-threatening situations-the soldiers also felt empowered and valued as a result of their military service. The women soldiers' perspectives regarding their military service covered three main themes, "experiencing trauma," "meaningful combat experiences," and "the need to be heard." Conclusions: Through qualitative research and narrative analysis, this study offers mental health professionals, policy makers, and scholars ways to gain a nuanced insight into women's combat trauma that avoids categorization. Based on the research findings, we suggest that additional aspects of trauma can be understood through the study of women soldiers, who face a "double battle"-combat, with the attendant trauma, and the gendered biases of the masculine military environment. Our findings suggest that there is value in engaging with and listening to diverse narratives of trauma and emphasize the need for a critical perspective in the study of trauma and combat trauma. Clinical Impact Statement The research sought to listen attentively to narratives of women combatants and combat-support soldiers with the aim to find the most appropriate means to make their voices heard and to reveal their military experience, including their trauma as well as their strengths and capabilities. Examining the military experience as a whole, and not merely the traumatic events, may assist mental health professionals to deepen the understanding of the experiences of women in the military and to create a more equitable military environment. Consequently, the research provides data to inform policy decisions and to help create effective support programs for veterans.