Women in the Military

“A 2003 report financed by the Department of Defense revealed that one-third of a nationwide sample of female veterans seeking health care through the V.A. said they experienced rape or attempted rape during their service. Of that group, 37 percent said they were raped multiple times, and 14 percent reported they were gang-raped. Perhaps even more tellingly, a small study financed by the V.A. following the gulf war suggests that rates of both sexual harassment and assault rise during wartime. The researchers who carried out this study also looked at the prevalence of PTSD symptoms—including flashbacks, nightmares, emotional numbing and round-the-clock anxiety—and found that women who endured sexual assault were more likely to develop PTSD than those who were exposed to combat”

I have read this report and it IS disturbing, particularly when the data consisted of women veterans from ALL BRANCHES and the figures were the same, with 1/3 having experienced consistent sexual harassment or rape. The report in “Women’s War” was also disturbing, in that Suzanne Swift went AWOL to avoid being sent back to Iraq to work under the same sergeants that she claimed had subjected her to sexual abuse.

We will add reposts of new articles to this category as they become available. ~ Don Chapin