Abstract
According to Defense Manpower Data, 15 percent of active-duty personnel and 17 percent of reservists are women. Military women and men are trained that rape and torture are possible should they crash behind enemy lines or be captured. This is a risk they accept. What they are not prepared for is rape and sexual harassment by fellow soldiers. Historians argue that rape is viewed as a bounty of war, a tolerated outlet for soldiers, a just reward, and as a means of troop mollification. Under conditions of war, rape targets civilian women in the enemy population, civilian women from the same group as the victors, and one's own soldiers in those countries where women serve in the military. The military is characterized by several characteristics that are known risk factors for sexual harassment in the civilian context, including a hierarchical organization, a previously all-male occupation, and work performance that hinges on qualities traditionally valued as masculine. The system for responding to rape and harassment of military women differs from civilian life.1 A military woman who is raped cannot seek medical care without reporting the incident to her commanding officer. That officer may have a preexisting relationship with the perpetrator and seek to defend him, usually has an average of about two days training in total on the subject of violence against military women, and may lack personal resources to respond appropriately to sexual traumatization. In the service academies, students who are raped report to a student officer, who is likely to lack the depth of training, maturity, and interpersonal skills needed for a first responder. In all likelihood, when medical care is obtained, it will not be as specialized as in civilian settings. Sexual assault nurse examiners are not routinely available in medical facilities on military posts or bases. When victims receive medical care or mental health care, records are not confidential and reports are routinely issued to commanding officers and others. Symptoms that are physical or emotional consequences of abuse can nevertheless be grounds for low work evaluations, which may result in the victim, not the perpetrator, being forced to leave military service. Sadly, impact on work functioning is a well-established outcome of rape.
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