Monday Madness: Rape In The Military
Posted by Michelle Moquin on May 13th, 2013
Good morning!
I HOPE everyone had a wonderful Mother’s Day wth their mother. I certaily did! We went and saw Wanda Sykes on Saturday night. (She is a hoot!) My mother loved it and so did I. And yesterday we tripped around SF, shopping and enjoying a delicious lunch in the sunny and beautiful downtown. I’ve been treating myself to facials from a new friend, so I gifted one to mom. She’s very excited.
How was your Mother’s Day? I HOPE all mothers around the world were loved and appreciated, and that love and appreciation will continue indefinitely.
Speaking of continuing…I wanted to start off this Monday morning and continue where I left off a few days ago: Rape in the military and what is being done to stop this madness.
Hagel: Sexual Assault Report Shows Armed Forces ‘Need Cultural Change‘
The growing problem of sexual assault in the armed forces could threaten the military’s ability to do its job and to recruit strong candidates to serve their country, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said today.
The issue took center stage in Washington after the arrest of the officer who ran the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention office on a sexual battery charge was confirmed Monday, a day before the Pentagon released a report that found sexual assaults in the military have risen 6 percent.
The arrest this past weekend in Arlington, Va., of Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, who headed the Air Force’s office of sexual assault prevention, sparked outrage about the military’s response to sexual assault among service members. He was removed from his post on Monday after the Air Force found out about his arrest.
“We’re all outraged and disgusted” by the news of Krusinski’s arrest, Hagel told reporters today as the Pentagon released the report on sexual assaults.
“No one in this building is happy,” Hagel said. “We’re disappointed.”
The report details a 6 percent increase in 2012 in the number of reports of sexual assault involving active duty service members as either victims or subjects.
“We need cultural change, where every service member is treated with dignity and respect, where all allegations of inappropriate behavior are treated with seriousness, where victims’ privacy is protected, where bystanders are motivated to intervene and where offenders know that they will be held accountable by strong and effective systems of justice,” Hagel said.
According to the report, there were a total of 3,374 reports of sexual assaults involving service members as either victims or subjects, and of those 2,558 were investigated or prosecuted. These reports involved offenses ranging from rape to abusive sexual contact.
That figure was up from the 3,192 reports received in 2011. The overall increase in reporting was due to a 30 percent jump in reports from the Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force; the Army saw a 16 perecent decrease in reports.
The Pentagon believes that sexual assaults are underreported and calculates that that there could possibly have been as many as 26,000 incidents of unwanted sexual contact in 2012. That number is extrapolated from a survey sent to 108,000 active duty service members, 24 percent of whom responded.
The survey found that 6.1 percent of women and 1.2 percent of men on active duty indicated they experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in the 12 months prior to the survey. The Pentagon uses the term “sexual assault” to refer to a range of crimes, including rape, sexual assault, nonconsensual sodomy, aggravated sexual contact, abusive sexual contact, and attempts to commit these offenses.
At a White House news conference President Obama made clear that he has “no tolerance” for sexual assault in the military and said perpetrators are “betraying the uniform that they’re wearing.”
“They may consider themselves patriots, but when you engage in this kind of behavior, that’s not patriotic; it’s a crime. And we have to do everything we can to root this out,” he said.
“I expect consequences,” he said. “I don’t want just more speeches or, you know, awareness programs or training, but ultimately folks look the other way. If we find out somebody’s engaging in this stuff, they’ve got to be held accountable, prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged — period. It’s not acceptable.”
The president said he had spoken with Hagel, telling him that “we have to exponentially step up our game to go at this thing hard.”
On Capitol Hill, senators called sexual assault in the military a “plague” and blasted the Air Force for not making enough progress in remedying the problem.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was “terribly disappointed” that the military is not doing a better job to prevent sexual assault.
“It appears to me we’re going to have to change the mindset of the military,” Reid said.
Krusinski’s arrest gave new fire to senators calling for the Department of Defense to act “swiftly and decisively” to address the problem of sexual assault in the military — including from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who, at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing with Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh III, at times yelled openly at the two Air Force witnesses over this case and the broader problem.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., who will block the promotion of another Air Force general who has pardoned an officer convicted of aggravate sexual assault, said she expects the person who hired Krusinski in the first place to be held to a higher standard on the highering of his replacement.
“This was not someone who understood what this job was about,” McCaskill said. “And I will be watching very carefully who is selected to replace Lt. Col. Kruinski, because I think it is one of those times you’re going to be able to send a message, and I think it’s important you do it.”
Senators Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., today introduced the Combating Military Sexual Assault Act of 2013, which they said will address gaps in the system.
Reid said he believes these are “steps in the right direction.”
“If there is legislation that needs to be done, which I’m quite sure there probably is, we need to move it out as quickly as we can,” Reid said.
Krusinski is expected to be arraigned on Thursday.
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Readers: I am at a loss for words this morning. All I can say is that I am grateful that our president Obama, Hagel and anyone else who is determined to remedy this horrific situation for women in the military, is doing something. Thank you.
Jackie: And those 3 words that I chose to describe my mother is not all of who she is to me….she is so much more. :)
Ruth, SM: Did you have a wonderful Mother’s Day? I HOPE you were spoiled by your family. I would love to hear how you, Harris and the girls et al are doing. Love to you.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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May 13th, 2013 at 12:24 pm
Oh WTF? That is just insane, too stunned to speak right now. The age old question comes to mind: who’s watching the watchers? *sigh* and he was drunk, too, most men do their most shameful things to women in altered states, doesn’t speak very highly for imbibing too much alcohol either. The military (like most cops) think they’re above the law, that has to change – clearly. I’m glad she shredded his face while fighting to get away, too bad some of it isn’t permanent so he’d be reminded everyday of his deed.
Norris, thanks for thinking of me, and I suppose we are blogging friends though I’ve not heard from you before. Since my kid’s dad flew in unexpectedly, she hung with him, leaving me open to enjoy some fun in the sun at a pool in lovely Palos Verdes where i also did a photo session just for this blog, want to do a redo, should’ve worn make up : ) though my barefoot and no make up look is Bohemian and kind of cool, too…more changes of favorite clothing are necessary also, my pick is short white shorts and my white Free People flowing top. I will send to Mischa soon. Then I met w/the ex, had a glass of wine, halfway through it I announced I was half smashed, he laughed bc we used to party on down on martinis like nobody’s biz back in our day. (and as Dorothy Parker so famously sstated, after the 3rd your under the table and after the 4th your under your host, which was him at the time ; ) and then Thai food with my girl and an hour massage, a very nice day overall, I must say, thanks for asking!
Luv, Zen Lill
PS yes, RuthSM, where have you been, how about a report on the girls, they must be getting to be a teenage handful!
May 13th, 2013 at 12:54 pm
I just got sent an app offer that is supposed to enable me to cheat on my wife. This basically says its ok to lie steal and cheat …as long as you dont get caught. I guess alot of people just dont care if their actions cause hurt to another. Very sad that there are so many people who think its ok to do whatever they want.
May 13th, 2013 at 1:07 pm
Liberals are criticizing this guy but then clinging to “this is why abortion should be kept legal and safe”. Murder is murder. Do you think that the cleveland kidnapper should be charged with forcing miscarriages of the women he imprisoned and impregnated?
You can’t have it both ways, liberals. And for the record, before Roe V Wade we didn’t have access to all the affordable birth control options we have today. It’s not about “choice” it’s about understanding that there’s a heartbeat after 22 days.
May 13th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
Shelley, that’s just pathetic and so is Ashley Madison the ‘life’s too short, have an affair’ site…though I’m sure there are plenty of marriages that are together though both parties live separate lives so what do i know? Just seems so pre-meditated nowadays, doesn’t anyone want to pick a cool mate and want to actually stay together and not screw around all the time? Why are people so ‘bored’ by what they’ve got? When people use the word ‘bored, boring’ about their lives together it gives away two things, they themselves are usually the boring one and they rely on things/people outside themselves for stimulation…lame…get a life, become interested/interesting and maybe you’ll attract someone who is like that as well, or do all people, men and women, just get bored eventually? I’m still researching that one…though I did some informal research on this bc it seemed to me no matter how ‘not’ jealous people are, they still do not want their sig other to step out though interestingly enough they always always feel that they can handle ‘things’ without them going too far if they themselves step out, and that’s the result of an informal survey of men/women that would answer me : ) uh huh. I believe that would indicate a control/controlled environment type of thing.
- ZL
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