Military sexual assault, redux

Preventing sexual assault Navy poster
Image in public domain.

The Japanese government has formally apologized for forcing women seized from China, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Taiwan to act as “comfort women” (sex slaves) for the military during World War II.

Recently, Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka, Japan, sparked considerable rage by saying that wartime brothels “were necessary…to maintain discipline in the army,” and suggesting that the former comfort women were part of “the tragedy of war.”

Similar views, although somewhat less explicit, can be found in the American military establishment.

In response to a Pentagon report indicating that military sexual crimes against women in uniform are increasing and that only a small percentage of the cases are being prosecuted, U.S. General Martin Dempsey suggested that the problem may be linked to the strains of war.

His remarks also provide evidence of a readiness to excuse sexual assaults committed by members of the military: “If a perpetrator shows up in a court martial with a rack of ribbons and has four deployments and a Purple Heart [Medal], there is certainly the risk that we might be a little too forgiving of that particular crime.”

The good news is that the problem of sexual assaults on American women (and men) in uniform is once again getting some attention in the mainstream corporate media and that several women Senators are pursuing the issue.

The absolute failure of the military to solve the problem with educational programs and trained personnel is all too obvious when officers conducting the training perpetrate sexual violence themselves.

Sexual assaults are one more example of the kinds of aggression tolerated in a culture of violence. Apologies are not enough. Justifications are abominable. Abstract educational programs are useless. Time for a Zero Tolerance program for all kinds of violence.

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology