Violence Against Women in the Military

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Violence Against Women in the Military

• Martin Donohoe

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Outline

• Definitions
• History
• Data
• Characteristics of abuse victims/perpetrators
• Consequences of abuse (including PTSD)
• Recent developments (DOD Review,
  Iraq/Afghanistan, available programs)
• Advice for female armed services members
• Reducing VAW in the military

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Violence Against Women

• Direct physical, sexual, emotional
• Global health burden comparable to that of HIV,
  tuberculosis, and cardiovascular disease
• Institutional social, legal, educational, and
  political marginalization

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Rape as a War Crime

• Common (comfort women of WW II Japan, Sudan,
  Rwanda, Bosnia, etc.)
• Notions of war/militarism and excessive
  masculinity
• gt 300 rapes of Japanese citizens committed by
  U.S. personnel since 1945
• Adverse effects on military agreements, support
  for U.S. troops

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Women in the U.S. Military

• More than 210,000 women are on active US military
  duty
• 1.8 million female veterans (out of 23 million
  total veterans)
• Almost 60,000 female troops have been deployed in
  Iraq and Afghanistan
• 1 in 7 US military personnel in Iraq is female

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Victims

• Active duty troops
• Army gt Marines gt Navy gt Air Force
• Female, civilian spouses of active duty personnel

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Recent History

• Tailhook Convention (1991)
• Aberdeen Proving Grounds sexual assaults (1996)
• Homicides, suicides among returning vets

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Violence and Homicides

• 1997-2001 gt10,000 cases of spouse abuse per year
  occurred in the armed forces
• 14 homicides
• Likely a large underestimate (e.g., girlfriends
  not counted, under-reporting)
• 1995-2004 218 domestic murders in the US military

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Violence

• 2007-2010 18 increase in alleged sexual
  assaults committed by U.S. service members
• Pentagon acknowledges 80 of rapes never reported
• Child maltreatment more common during deployments
• Suggests victims becoming perpetrators

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Violence and Sexual Assault Among Active Duty
Soldiers and Veterans

• Multiple studies with widely varying percentages
  see long version of this slide show at phsj.org
• Active duty military
• Abuse rates 20-35
• Sexual assault rates 17 to 33

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Violence and Sexual Assault Among Active Duty
Soldiers and Veterans

• Female veterans
• Abuse rates 24-70
• Sexual assault rates 20-42
• Veterans reporting history of sexual harassment
  90 lt 50 yo 35 gt 50 yo

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Female Perpetrators

• Female on male violence more common in military
  than among civilians
• Moderate aggression 13 vs. 10
• Severe aggression 4.4 vs. 2
• LGBT violence under-reported
• Lack of provider awareness
• Dont ask / dont tell
• One study found higher percentages of aggression
  among female ADM than among male ADM

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Common Characteristics ofAbuse Victims

• low self-esteem
• guilt
• self-blame
• denial
• traditional attitudes regarding womens roles
• have children

• poor financial resources
• few job skills
• less education
• few friends
• history of childhood abuse

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Common Characteristicsof Abusers

• low self-esteem
• dependency
• jealousy
• poor communication skills
• unemployed/underemployed

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Common Characteristicsof Abusers

• abuse alcohol/other drugs
• have witnessed or experienced abuse as children
• if immigrants, are more likely to have been
  victims of political violence
• abuse their own children

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Military families face unique stressors, which
increase the risk for family violence

• Relocations
• Long work tours
• Frequent family separations
• Dangerous work assignments

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Combat stress and PTSD increase likelihood of
males perpetrating abuse

• Veterans with combat exposure and PTSD have more
  marital problems
• 1/3 of male veterans with PTSD engage in partner
  violence
• Rate 2-3X higher than that for non-PTSD veterans
  and non-PTSD civilians

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Victims More Likely to Report

• Chronic health problems (esp. gyn)
• Lower health-related quality of life
• Prescription medication use for emotional
  problems
• Failure to complete college
• Annual income lt 25,000
• Depression (3X higher rate)
• Alcohol abuse (2X higher rate)

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Victims

• History of childhood violence and post-military
  violence more common
• High levels of secondary victimization
• Feelings of guilt
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Distrust of others
• Reluctance to seek further help

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PTSD

• Risk of PTSD after sexual assault similar in both
  female and male veterans to that seen following
  high levels of combat exposure
• Female veterans who had suffered sexual assault
  while in the military 9X more likely to have PTSD

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PTSD Patients

• Males 6.5 of combat veterans and 16.5 of
  non-combat veterans reported in-service or
  post-service sexual assault
• Females 69 of combat veterans and 87 of
  non-combat veterans reported in-service or
  post-service sexual assault
• Combat and sexual assault are the 2 most potent
  predictors of PTSD

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Under-reporting by victims and spouses

• Concern about husbands prospects for continued
  service and promotion
• Perceived/real lack of confidentiality and
  privacy
• Limited victim services

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Under-reporting by victims and spouses

• Fear of retaliation and damage to their careers
  or being portrayed as disloyal
• Those who do report are often punished,
  intimidated, or ostracized
• Perpetrators of the most vicious crimes often
  transferred to another base or offered marriage
  counseling and anger management classes in lieu
  of more severe punishment

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Under-reporting by victims and spouses

• 48 of female active duty military think abuse
  should be reported to commanding officer
• 73 of female ADM (vs. 43 of female civilians)
  think mandatory reporting increases womens risk
  of further abuse
• 82 of ADM think routine screening makes women
  less likely to disclose abuse to a health care
  provider

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Prosecution and Punishment Rare, Promotion not
Uncommon for Perpetrators

• Since 1992, nearly 5000 accused sex offenders in
  the Army, including rapists, have avoided
  prosecution and the possibility of prison time
• 1988-1993 80 of abusers who left the military
  received honorable discharges
• Of those who remained in the military, 54 were
  promoted (compared with 65 of the overall
  military population)

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Iraq and Afghanistan

• 1/7 female veterans of these conflicts seeking
  medical care at the VA had suffered sexual trauma
  (2008 study)
• A deployed female soldier is more likely to be
  raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy
  fire

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Iraq and Afghanistan

• Many victims did not receive basic medical care
• emergency contraception
• rape evidence kits
• testing for sexually transmitted infections
• prophylactic treatment or testing for HIV
• rape crisis counseling

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Iraq and Afghanistan

• Prosecution of crimes often delayed indefinitely
• Many servicewomen continued to serve in the same
  unit with their assailants

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Iraq

• Disturbing reports of sexual abuse and
  humiliation at the Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo
  military prisons
• Five American soldiers allegedly raped and
  murdered a young Iraqi woman, burned her body,
  and killed three members of her family in their
  home

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Recent Developments

• 1999 VA mandates that all veterans (male and
  female) be screened for military sexual trauma
• Compliance still low
• DOD Policy Review notes major problems
• 2005 Congress establishes Sexual Assault
  Prevention and Response Office within the Defense
  Department
• 2008 director ordered by DOD superiors not to
  testify before Congress re problems with office

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Recent Developments

• DOD requires health care provider training on
  domestic violence
• Domestic violence advocates program and family
  support programs in place
• Utilization still low
• Civilian perpetrators barred from bases
• Military police to work with local law enforcement

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Victim Assistance

• U.S. Armys transitional compensation program
  provides financial and other benefits to the
  families of service members discharged for child
  or spouse maltreatment, including victim
  assistance and offender rehabilitation

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Victim Assistance

• VA provides lifetime sexual assault victims
  counseling to all military veterans
• After one leaves the service
• Most counseled patients are males, who suffer
  lower rates of sexual assault but make up a large
  majority of veterans

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Recent Developments

• Military Domestic Violence and Sexual Response
  Act
• Would reduce sexual assault and domestic violence
  involving members of the Armed Forces and their
  family members and partners through enhanced
  programs of prevention and deterrence, enhanced
  programs of victims services, and strengthened
  provisions for prosecution of assailants
• In House and Senate subcommittees since mid 2009

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Advice for Female Armed Services Members

• Women on the front lines, who risk capture and
  being held as a prisoner of war (which puts them
  at even higher risk for sexual assault), should
  strongly consider commencing birth control
  pre-deployment with an intrauterine device or
  implant

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Advice for Female Armed Services Members

• Victims should report abuse and consider
  contacting local domestic violence organizations
  or the Miles Foundation, a Connecticut-based
  advocacy group for military victims of domestic
  violence (telephone [phone] Web page
  http//hometown.aol.com/milesfdn/myhomepage/

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Reducing Violence Against Women in the Military

• Change in the sexist ideologies and practices
  long associated with militarism and war
• Improvements in victim services, including
  enhanced confidentiality
• Appointment of a central authority within the DOD
  to investigate and prosecute violent crimes
• Enhanced curricular offerings to teach trainees
  and practicing clinicians how to recognize and
  manage the sequelae of domestic violence

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Reducing Violence Against Women in the Military

• Increased funding of domestic violence shelters
• Laws to decrease the easy availability of
  firearms
• More funding for research, treatment, and
  prevention
• Changes in law and policy to protect victims and
  to improve the status of women

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International Vehicles to Decrease Violence
Against Women

• Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of
  Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Calls for
  equality of the sexes in political, social,
  cultural, civil, and other fields

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International Vehicles to Decrease Violence
Against Women

• UN Security Council Resolution 1325 Mandates
  protection of, and respect for, human rights of
  women and girls and calls on all parties to armed
  conflict to take specific measures to protect
  women and girls from gender-based violence,
  particularly rape and sexual violence

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International Vehicles to Decrease Violence
Against Women

• International Criminal Court (ICC), established
  in 2002 Codifies accountability for gender-based
  crimes against women during military conflict by
  defining sexual and gender violence of all kinds
  as war crimes

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International Vehicles to Decrease Violence
Against Women

• U.S. has not ratified CEDAW, signed UNSCR 1325,
  nor signed on to the ICC
• U.S. should show its commitment to improving
  women's rights worldwide by taking action on
  these items
• The women and men who risk their lives in service
  to the ideals for which the United States ideally
  stands deserve no less.

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Contact Information, Slide Shows, References, etc.

• Public Health and Social Justice Website
• http//www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org
• http//www.phsj.org
• martindonohoe_at_phsj.org