Front and Center: Sexual Violence in U.S. Military Law

Abstract

Military-on-military sexual violence-the type of sexual violence that most directly disrupts operations, harms personnel, and undermines recruiting-occurs with astonishing frequency. The U.S. military has responded with a campaign to prevent and punish military-on-military sex crimes. This campaign, however, has made little progress, partly because of U.S. military law, a special realm of criminal justice dominated by legal precedents involving sexual violence and racialized images. By promulgating images and narratives of sexual exploitation, violent sexuality, and female subordination, the military justice system has helped to sustain a legal culture that reifies the connection between sexual violence and authentic soldiering.

Sexual Assault Training in the Military: Evaluating Efforts to End the “Invisible War”

“…Given their relative organizational power, and the military's procedure for unrestricted reporting, it is likely that many Officers had greater knowledge of the frequency of sexual assaults (Hillman 2009;Turchik and Wilson 2010). As discussed above, Air Force personnel reported the greatest access to comprehensive sexual assault training as well.…”

“…However, existing research on military training generalizes across military personnel. On the other hand, higher-ranking personnel may have more knowledge and training on military sexual assault, due to their longer tenure and responsibilities with respect to sexual assault reporting protocols (Hillman 2009;Turchik and Wilson 2010). Rank, or power within the military, may affect judgments of training.…”

Sex Crimes

“…The official definition of sexual assault in the armed forces includes "intentional sexual contact, characterized by use of force, physical threat or abuse of authority or when the victim does not or cannot consent (Army Regulation 600-20, as cited in Hillman, 2009)." Attention to the issues of sexual violence in the military occurred during the Vietnam War and gained momentum after the publication of Susan Brownmiller's groundbreaking book, Against Our Will in 1975.…”

“…Attention to the issues of sexual violence in the military occurred during the Vietnam War and gained momentum after the publication of Susan Brownmiller's groundbreaking book, Against Our Will in 1975. Recent research suggests that military-on-military sexual violence is a significant part of military crime and it persists across lines of rank and branches of the service (Hillman, 2009).…”

U.S. Military Women and Divorce: Separating the Issues

“…Women in the military experience high rates of sexual harassment (Hay & Elwig, 1999) and workplace assault, including military sexual trauma (Hillman, 2009). In the 2006 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active-Duty Members, nearly twice as many women (63%) reported experiencing at least one unprofessional, gender-related behavior compared to men (34%; Lipari, Cook, Rock, & Matos, 2008).…”