Sexual Assault in the Army

With the allegations that sexual assault is on the rise in the U.S. Army Reserves, it is no wonder that the Department of the Army has intervened. In March of 2009, the Department of the Army authorized a sexual assault prevent and response program, which has come to be called “I.Am.Strong.”. The program is the Army’s solution to the problem of sexual assault within their troops. The program includes seven psychiatrists whose focus is sexual assault and fifteen additional judge advocates that will focus primarily on sexual assault litigation and training during a three-year-tour.

The overall goal of the sexual assault prevent and response program is to make certain that victims receive the assistance they need; including medical attention and mental health care. “Until now the Army judge advocate has been a ‘generalist, not a specialist’”. The Army has for the first time designated “prosecutors for a specific crime”.

There are two main types of harassment in the Army, according to Juanita M. Firestone and Richard J. Harris of the Division of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas. The first kind of harassment is considered to be more personalized behavior which includes “actual or attempted rape, assault, pressure for sexual favors or dates, sexual touching or cornering, and sexual letters or phone calls.” The second sort of harassment is environmental harassment, which is considered, “sexual teasing and jokes, suggestive looks and gestures, and sexual whistles, calls, and hoots”. Firestone and Harris’ compared more personalized behavior and environmental harassment in the Army in 1988 and then again in 1995. Their data indicated a decline in more personalized behavior in the Army since 1988. However, in general, women still believe there is a great deal of harassment. However, “respondents reporting no environmental types of harassment are very unlikely to report individual harassment, and the vast majority of those reporting some environmental harassment are also likely to report individual harassment.”

I think this is an incredible program that the Army has focused its resources to and introduced. I was unaware that there are considered to be two main types of harassment. The environmental harassment, in my opinion, would be more prevalent but more difficult to report. It is good that the Army is not solely focusing on the more personalized harassment but also the environmental harassment.  I think the added resources and heightened awareness will allow more women to feel comfortable joining the Army. The issue of sexual assault in the Army is extremely important and I think that the increased awareness is long overdue. Hopefully, through the sexual assault prevent and response program, more victims will come forward and get the treatment they deserve.

References:

1)      Harris J., Richard and Firestone M., Juanita, “Changes in Patterns of Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military: A Comparison of the 1988 and 1995 DoD Surveys”, The Division of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas, Armed Forces and Society, 1995.

2)      Kohn, Maureen A. "Special victim units - not a prosecution program but a justice program." Army Lawyer (2010): 68+. LegalTrac. Web. 28 Oct. 2010.