According to a study acquired exclusively by “The Christian Monitor,” one in five United States Air Force women is a victim of sexual assault. The study was conducted by the United States military in order to determine the amount of sexual assault that occurs within its ranks. According to the study, nearly half of the rape victims, mostly male airmen assaulting female airmen, never reported the crime when it occurred. The reason that some airmen gave for not reporting these attacks was that they feared that they would cause “trouble in their unit.” However, two percent of men surveyed also admitted having been sexually assaulted since joining the military. Of the nearly 20 percent of female airmen who admitted being assaulted, 58 percent reported being raped and 20 percent reported being sodomized, which the military classifies as “nonconsensual oral or anal sex.” The assaults allegedly occurred while the women were enlisted in the Air Force as well as at the military academies. The study was originated in order to create “prevention programs” and assess how much violence is truly going on within the United States military. This raises the question of how our troops can defend our country when there isn’t an appropriate means for them to defend themselves against threatening forces within the military itself.
Student Researcher: Ashley Noble
Faculty Instructor: Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D.
Indian River State College
Source: “Exclusive: 1 in 5 Air Force women victim of sexual assault, survey finds” Anne Mulrine, The Christian Science Monitor, March 2011. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2011/0317/Exclusive-1-in-5-Air-Force-women-victim-of-sexual-assault-survey-finds