October 2014 – Page 2 – Engaging Peace

Extolling WHOM

Posted on October 13, 2014November 15, 2014 by kathiemm

The 10¢ Columbian. Columbus Presenting Natives, 2 January 1893, US Post Office
This work is in the public domain in the United States

Today I am enjoying what appears to be a disappearing commodity: the three day weekend.

But, I am not celebrating the “accomplishments” of Christopher Columbus, who chanced on the Americas in his quest for riches and found them in his own form of “brown gold” i.e., the native peoples of the long-inhabited “New World,” whom he captured and sold or gave away in the thousands.

How can one honor such a man?

* On encountering the native people on the island he named San Salvador, he wrote, on October 14, 1492, “When your Highnesses so command, they could all be carried off to Castile or be held captive in the island itself because with 50 men they could all be subjugated and compelled to do anything one wishes.”

* On further exposure to the gentle native people, he wrote on December 16, 1492, “They have no weapons and are all naked without any skill in arms and are very cowardly so that a thousand would not challenge three.… Thus they are useful to be commanded and to be made to labor and sow and to do everything else of which there is need and build towns.…”

* On February 2, 1494, he dispatched 12 ships with a cargo of slaves—nearly half of whom died during the voyage—to be sold in the slave market at Seville.

I find no honor in such deeds or in the reign of terror Columbus unleashed on the people of the Americas. On this day (known in many places as Indigenous People’s Day) I join in honoring the native peoples who survived Columbus’s assault on their homes and families.

It is time to apologize and make amends.

Military Sexual Assault: Toxic Masculinity Gone Viral?

Posted on October 9, 2014November 15, 2014 by kathiemm

Men who perpetrate military sexual assaults tend to be indiscriminate;—they will destroy the lives of men as easily as women.

Indeed, because men enter the military in much higher numbers than women, the majority of military sexual assault victims are men. In a 2013 report on sexual assault, the Pentagon estimated that 26,000 service members experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012; 53% of those attacks were directed at men, mostly by other men.

It has been estimated that 38 military men are sexually assaulted every day; “The culprits almost always go free, the survivors rarely speak, and no one in the military or Congress has done enough to stop it.” A few survivors did talk to GQ Magazine; you can read their stories here.

In order to explain sexual assaults, one factor that clinicians and social scientists have advanced is “toxic masculinity,” which may be exacerbated by toxic environments. Toxic is defined as “the constellation of socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence.”

Such traits appear to flourish in certain toxic environments more than in others. Prisons comprise a toxic environment, and the military is another.

Do the ideas of toxic masculinity and toxic environments sound valid to you?

Whatever your views on the extent to which traits and environments become toxic, I hope you will steer children away from bullying and recognize that neither military service members nor imprisoned men and women deserve to be sexually harassed, sexually assaulted, or otherwise abused—in violation of international law.

Join the US armed services and increase your RMST!!!

Posted on October 6, 2014October 5, 2014 by kathiemm

So, what is RMST, anyway? It’s risk of Military Sexual Trauma, which is rampant in the nation’s armed forces. Sexual assault in the military may be, as declared in this trailer for the film “The Invisible War,” the American military establishment’s greatest cover-up.

The numbers are shocking: Among veterans using VA health care, approximately 23% of the women reported experiencing sexual assault in the military.

Sexual assault of military personnel takes place in a context in which intimate partner violence (IPV) is also elevated. For example,

Among women veterans, 39% report having experienced IPV at some point in their lives.
Among active duty women, 30% to 44% report having experienced IPV during their lifetimes.
Estimates of IPV committed by veterans and active duty servicemen range between 13.5% and 58%– which the Veteran’s Administration says is up to three times higher than the rates seen among civilians.

The outcomes are also shocking. You probably know that many people in the armed forces develop PTSD. But did you know that a substantial number of those cases of PTSD and other disorders are the results of rape—not rape by enemy soldiers or enemy combatants but by fellow countrymen and women? Although the Department of Defense has initiated a number of programs designed to promote sexual assault awareness and prevention, the Military Rape Crisis Center, a survivor-run organization, indicates that there is a long way to go. See what victims face.

Now share your views: In a social political context in which there is no military draft/conscription but only an “all volunteer” military, and given a context in which the military industrial complex may see benefits in growing income disparity, what factors may be contributing to military sexual assault and domestic violence and what factors may increase the likelihood of those traumas resulting in PTSD? And come back and visit this Thursday to see a post on military sexual assault on men.

How to Defeat Terrorism 101

Posted on October 2, 2014November 15, 2014 by kathiemm

By Dr. Majed Ashy, Guest Author

Terrorism emerges in environments that feed it. Such environments provide intellectual, financial, and personnel support and supplies. The main intellectual supply comes from a few branches of Islam in which some members are intolerant of other religions and sects and tolerant of coercion–even violence. The main financial and personnel supports come from governments pursuing their own interests.

Terrorism can be defeated if governments stop providing both direct and indirect support to violent groups. History has shown repeatedly that when the US government supports a group in its fight against a perceived “enemy,” this group starts to have a life of its own and turns against us. Destabilizing countries, governments, institutions, and cultures creates fertile environments for the spawning of terrorist and criminal groups.

The goal of international terrorism is to weaken the US militarily, economically, and image-wise. They try to do this by creating multiple hot spots internationally, and shocking the American public with atrocities intended to pressure the American government into ever expanding military involvements. Such involvements stress the economy and, given the nature of terrorism, rarely if ever end with a victory.

We need a new concept to replace that of the “sovereign nation state,” which is the basis of the UN and international affairs. Many developments are weakening the “nation state,” such as the Internet, media, globalization, communication, and terrorism. Defeating terrorism requires more than aggressive responses from individual nation states; it needs a coordinated international effort that is holistic and cooperative. The best antidotes to terrorism include inter-group tolerance and pluralism, as well as the establishment of justice and better living conditions, less war, and more hope for all.

Dr. Ashy is an assistant professor of psychology at Merrimack College and a research fellow in psychiatry at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He was born in Lebanon and is a Saudi. He earned his B.A., M.A, and Ph.D. in psychology from Boston University. His research in psychoneuroimmunology and political psychology focuses on childhood experience of adversity and its psychobiological consequences.