Friday, November 09, 2007

more on rape and the military

Feminist Law Professors » Blog Archive » Sexual Assault and the Military

the folks at FLP have done the hard work for me. they've compiled some depressing stories tracing the (lack of) progress made re: rape in the military.

it's an interesting and sobering collection of stats and stories and forces me to ask my question again: Should women serve in the military with men when it's clear that women are in danger from their male cohort?

is that an unfeminist question to ask?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It really scares me to think that even with all that has happened over the years men still think that they have the right to abuse, assault or rape anyone they choose (men and women) because they have "urges" and of course it would have had to happen in the military where men and women are taught to use their primal instincts

Delia Christina said...

here's something to scare you even more. there's a 2002 DoJ study ("Acquaintance Rape of College Students," Rana Simpson; Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Series, no. 17) that references a 1995 study that polled college men and one-third of the respondents said that they would rape if they could be guaranteed they would not be caught.

what that says to me is that there is still an astounding number of men, whether or not they want to acknowledge this is how they think, who think women exist to be raped. these attitudes go beyond a basic willingness to commit a crime; they are based in a problematic view of women as objects for sexual gratification and objects for the exercise of masculine power.