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

Ban the bomb again!

“…the end of nuclear tests is one of the key means of achieving the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.”

Those words are from the Preamble of the United Nations Resolution designating August 29 as International Day against Nuclear Tests.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5PRZh_C0e4

Please take the time to watch this brief dramatic video about the events leading up to the U.N. General Assembly’s unanimous decision on December 2, 2009.

It includes information and powerful images about the 2000+ nuclear tests conducted before the first test ban treaty.

Despite the significance of the August 29 commemoration, global stockpiles of nuclear weapons, as well as nuclear power production, still have the potential for ending most life on earth.

However, there are also signs of hope:

  • Regional treaties have led the southern hemisphere of the world to become almost entirely free of nuclear weapons.
  • On February 2, 2011, President Obama ratified the New START, a landmark nuclear arms treaty with Russia.
  • Progress has been made towards incorporating the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) into international law; however, to achieve this status, it must be ratified by the 44 “Annex 2” states that possessed nuclear research or power reactors at the time of the original treaty negotiations.

BUT, as of August 16, 2011, there were nine nations from that group that still have not ratified the CTBT: China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and the United States.

Some strange bedfellows here? What do you make of this group?

Do you know where your representatives in Congress stands on the START treaty? On the CTBT? On nuclear power? If you don’t, shouldn’t you find out?

And don’t forget the power of one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QzjqOl2N9c&feature=related

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology