Can’t trust their "battle buddies"
Salon.com has a lengthy story about the issues women face in the military, on deployment. The story focuses on the sexual harassment and rapes that often occur.
I’m not a woman, so I have no real basis to judge the veracity of the story, or even how prevalent the problem is. I don’t doubt that it happens. Most bases in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan are like small towns and cities - and like towns and cities back home, women are often assaulted. It’s a shame, it’s a crime, but it’s a fact.
At my own FOB, Q-West Base Complex, where I worked base security, we had only one reported attempted assault in the year I was there. The female soldier answered a knock at her door one night, and then, in complete darkness, had to fight off a soldier trying to force his way into here room. She didn’t report the attempted attack, and we only found out about it weeks later because her husband back in the U.S. called her First Sergeant to complain about it.
Is it possible there were sexual assaults that weren’t reported? I have no doubt. Between the female soldiers and female civilians on the FOB, it’s highly likely other attacks occurred.
In the Army’s defense, I have sat through a lot of sexual assault awareness classes over the last couple of years, so I know there is at least an attempt to address the problem. Plus,
Armed Forces Network television regularly runs ads talking about the issue and telling male soldiers not to take advantage of their female “battle buddies”. Not perfect, but it’s a start.
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this situation is very real and very often. I could go on and on for hours about how devistating it is to realize that you can not trust the people that are your supposed battle buddies but instead i will throw you some examples. in iraq i was sexually assaulted by a civilian contractor that lived in our barracks, 4 rooms down the hall from men( i pressed charges and he was removed within 1 week). horrible. we lived beside an infantry unit who on numerous times had confrontations with the males in our unit because they were trying to shelter us from their glares. i could not use the bathroom or shower by myself yet when my unit moved from taji to q-west i was required to use co-ed showers with a new infantry unit and the males from my unit. i was asked out by one of my officers. sexually harrased by medics at 2 different installations. and last but not least i had to file a sexual harrasment complaint against a MAJ. i can not tell you how hard it is to walk around with my head up. at home now as a civilain i see a therapist but i still feel the need to hide my face and my body. i love my battles that took care of me but often in war an enemy of any kind has multiple faces. take car of your females - they need you!
Wow, sorry to hear your experience was so poor. My little unit only had one female, and to my knowledge, she didn’t have nearly the problems you described. Of course, I just might not have heard about it.