What if I’m Wrong?
I’ve been researching. Ever since PBS offered me the opportunity to be part of the POV blog Regarding War, I’ve been researching. Women’s roles in the military. Statistics. Facts and media reports.
What I find is astonishingly upsetting. There’s allegedly an 8% prosecution rate of rapes in the military compared to a 40% rate in civilian cases. 1 in 3 military women are alledgely victims of sexual abuse or harassment but are too embarrassed/ashamed/afraid to speak up. There was an increase in 2008 of 165 rapes reported in Iraq compared to 131 in 2007.
So as I research, I wonder.
What if I’m wrong? What if the military that I serve in really is misogynistic and anti woman and hiding a multitude of sins that I don’t see because of my rank or simply because it hasn’t happened to me? What if commanders are incompetent and leaders are failures all around me and women really are victims in an organization they wanted to serve in and be thought of as equals?
I don’t believe this but the research I’m finding disagrees with my experience. I can’t speak to anyone else’s experience and I know that rapes and assaults occur in the military and I also know that there is significant doubt facing women who come forward, especially if alcohol is involved. But is it ‘rampant’ as one congresswoman says? Is it prevalent so much that nearly every woman interviewed for books on Iraq and Afghanistan say they’ve been harassed, assaulted and marginalized as a result.
I find the media reports stunning and shocking and all the more so because it does not reflect what I’ve seen. And I’ve been in a diverse set of units. I’ve been in a Patrior Battalion. I’ve served at a Division headquarters and a test directorate. I’ve served in signal battalions and in a brigade combat team. Short of being assigned to a combat arms battalion, I’ve run the gauntlet of assignments and I just don’t see it. I’ve served as an equal opportunity representative, where I saw first hand the kind of complaints that come through the EO channels, complaining of bias based on rage, gender, or religion.
And still, I don’t see the military that is reflected in the media. But still, the seed of doubt has been planted. So as I go through this journey of writing for PBS, I’m growing and learning, not only as a woman but as a soldier as well. I can at least see the difference between what the media reports and what happens on the ground but I’m seeing things in a different light.
I have to say, I did not expect blogging for PBS to change my point of view. To an extent it hasn’t but at the same time, it has. Because I wonder now.
What if I’m wrong?
Tags: pbs, regarding war, women and war
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:19 pm
What if you are not?
Isn’t your experience just a valid as that of a rape victim?
How does her experience change yours?
I am learning that my expectations of a given event, influence the outcome. If I expect to be bored in a meeting, I am. If I expect to enjoy the movie, I do. But, if I read a negative review of a book or movie, I don’t enjoy it as much.
Look for negative, and you will find it, because everyone has a bad story to tell. Look for the positive, and it is harder, because fewer people harp on the wonderful day they have had.
How many women are interviewed and questioned about their wonderful experiences in the military?
February 24th, 2010 at 7:34 am
My cynical side reminds you of the news adage, ‘if it bleeds, it leads.’ How much news coverage is there of the good aspect of anything? Weigh that into your calculations your experience versus media coverage.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:13 am
Fascinating and troubling post, Jessica. I guess one question to ask is, what are the sources for the information? How was the data obtained? Another question is, how old is that data? I worked for years as a researcher in the public sector, and it was a constant struggle to find relevant and up-to-date info. Many times I was forced to rely on data that was several years old, simply because nothing else was available.
Good luck! Don’t let this invalidate your own experience.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:18 am
I spent 20 years in the Air Force, and wonder myself at the stories I see in the news media. But, Sexual harassment is not dead in the military, or wasn’t before I left.
I remember once, in my unit, reporting sexual harassment (I Only went to my commander, who was part of the problem), which is what it was by definition. For more than six months my name was “dirt” in the unit. The problems at first only stopped when I was around, and then after a while seemed to ease up. Even though women are encouraged to report such things, everyone knows there is a back lash.
In my case, I did it because of someone else in the room. I walked in, and a young airman was red in the face, while the men played a video to see if they could see some singer’s “nipples”. They did it over and over again. I made a comment then, but it had no affect on the behavior, so later that day I went to the commander (who was the one with the replay button in his hand). Of course everyone in the unit thought I was wrong. (Luckily it was a small unit), and felt I should shut up. But the situation eased over time, and the unit got back to a better, more professional behavior.
The thing is, if it’s that bad for reporting people looking at a video over and over again to see a woman’s nipples, then imagine what it would be if there was something deeper reported. Like touching.
I saw a lot of low level “Harassment”, but I never saw a single case of use of sex by a senior officer, which is what shocks me when I see it in the news. I worked in two different career fields, so I don’t think you could call me “sheltered” in my career. Though I was not deployed during a wartime scenario. Lots of exercises, but not an actual wartime event.
February 24th, 2010 at 11:35 am
I was under the impression that they wanted you to write for their blog based on YOUR experiences and what it was like for you. The Army is not a perfect organization and, in my opinion, the mainstream media makes it appear even less so. Write about what you saw and experienced as a soldier, leader, woman, wife and mom. Let their “professional journalists” spout about all the statistics about how bad the army is. I doubt that most of those statistics are relevent to your experience. Just write about what you saw and experienced, good and bad.
I will also say that in my years in and around the military, the women and men that are harassed and abused are usually the meek little wallflowers. The predators will pick them out and zero in. You never experienced a lot of this because you’re neither meek nor a wallflower. You’ve always had a quick wit and a sharp tongue, which you probably had to bite a few times!!
You looked at the prosecution rates, now look at the conviction rates. I will wager that the military has a higher conviction rate. That’s because they won’t take something to trial that isn’t a 99% slam dunk.
February 26th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
I’m not much of a believer in published statistics and research findings. In my opinion, most of those efforts start out with a preconceived notion and they just go looking for info to back up their already formed opinions to support whatever agenda they are pushing. I think CSM Bill is on the right track; talk about what your own personal experiences have been. You know what you know. Everything else is just hearsay.
March 1st, 2010 at 2:53 pm
From what I’m reading in these replies is that those who are harrassed or raped deserved it OR that the media and the statistics are wrong. This shows why women who have faced harrassment or been raped either don’t report it or are ignored. Please get a copy of TIME magainze (3/8/10) and read the comment on page 60 by Nancy Gibbs. It starts, “What does it tell us that female soldier deployed overseas stop drinking water after 7:00 p.m. to reduce the vbathroom at night? . . . a female solider in Iraq is more klikely to be raped by a fellow solider than to be killed by enemy fire.”
This is a problem. I rejoice that Jessica didn’t face this, but am saddened that many women did and we pretend it doesn’t happen.
March 3rd, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Jane,
Both of those situations are quoted from other news agencies and they refer to specific women, not en masse. There were plenty of tines I went to the latrine or the shower in the middle if the night by myself and the only time I worried was when the new unit came in bc I didn’t know those soldiers
I agree we have to do better, but I’m also concerned bc the bad news is becoming the rule in the media perception of us military women.