Sociology

Any bill that is introduced in the House for discussion must be aimed to address a danger or a sensitive issue and an example of these bills is the Military Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Act (H.R.840). This was a bill that was reintroduced in the house on 3rd February 2009 by Louise Slaughter after having failed to succeed in 2006. This bill is aimed at developing mechanisms and programs that would work to reduce all sort of violence targeted at military personnel and their families by improving services for these victims by using various methods to deter violence and  by strengthening provisions for prosecuting the perpetrators. This essay is particularly going to discuss in detail about the aim of this legislation and specifically on sex and sexuality and will also focus on what its advocacy groups say about it.

    The genesis of the bill is based on the fact that a substantial number of military spouses and female military personnel are vulnerable to domestic violence and sexual abuse by their fellow males in the military. Although there no reliable statistics on this, those that are available estimate that domestic violence and other sexual abuses perpetrated against females in the military service is two to five times than it is the case with civilians and they also indicate that one in every three women in military service encounters sexual violence while in line of duty and it is for this reason a legislation to solve this problem is in the making. In supporting her bill Slaughter cited a few facts that were based on the findings that were released by the Department of Defense (DOD) in March 2006 and March 2007 (Press Release). According to the 2007’s statistics, 2,947 sexual assault cases were reported and as per 2006’s statistics, 2,374 cases of sexual abuse were reported in the year 2005 a figure that was up that of 2004 by 1,700. Of the cases reported in 2005 according to the Assault Survey of the Service Academies, only 1 and 6 percent of males and females respectively reported the matter while slightly less than half of all females who were sexually assaulted never reported the matter for fear of victimization (Press Release).

    The bill was reintroduced after Slaughter realized that the existing mechanisms to fight this abuse were not strong enough to face the new emerging and hence the need for strengthening the existing ones. While appreciating the role the Department of Defense (DOD) was doing in improving services it offered, it was however noted that advocates entrusted with the role of protecting the rights of victims are denied resources that would enable them do a thorough job. It was also noted that DOD’s protection and prevention policies unlike those for the civilians are not codified and therefore they are not consistent. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, the new registration also aims to ensure that military victims of domestic and sexual assault  can seek treatment  and counseling anywhere without their records being used against them should they happen to initiate charges against their victimizers. According to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, this act “would establish an Office of Victims Advocate within the Pentagon and create confidentiality protocols to protect the rights of victims under military law.”

    This is a good legislation if it would be enacted as it would prevent women in military from being abused by their male counterparts. According to various reports that have been published recently, all of them indicate that rape is still a pervasive problem in the military landscape as even today similar incidences are being reported to happen in Iraq and Afghanistan. Domestic violence and sexual assault in military have been there since time immemorial but it is the high time that they should be stopped as they not only degrade women but also violate their human rights (Press Release). It has been a culture that has been running in the military for long where women are used as objects of entertainment thereby subjecting them to risky situation where sexually starved men could pounce on them at anytime. This claim is supported by Christine Hansen, the Miles Foundation’s executive director who alleges that sexual assault is seen as a rite of passage in military and therefore it is not easy to end this deeply entrenched culture (Tessier). If a report that was published in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine is anything to go by, this legislation probably will meet a lot of resistance from some top leaders in the army. According to this report, top leaders in the military service play a very big part in its perpetration and therefore they might use all means at their disposal to ensure it does not go through even if it means influencing legislators to reject it. Though the Pentagon seems to be determined to put in place mechanisms that would end this violence, it cannot not be said to be trying enough because recently according to Roston the Pentagon through the Department of Defense rejected a proposal that was championing for the establishment of an office that was geared to provide assistance to sexual assault victims. This was a recommendation that had been made by the Wellesley College Centers for Women, a taskforce on sexual abuse in the military. Though the government claims to be committed to fighting violence in military, the move to reject this proposal is construed by its supporters as a move to sabotage its enactment or to weaken it if it happens to come into force (Roston).

    One advocacy group that strongly supports the enactment of this bill is the Miles Foundation, Inc. which is both a victim service and advocacy agency and the other one is the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). These advocacy groups advance the argument that if this bill becomes a law it would enable sexual assault and domestic violence victims in the military service to be protected from being victimized by their seniors as at the moment they have to report the matter to their commandants before taking any other action. This deters victims from reporting the perpetrators as they might end up being victimized (Tessier). At the moment all victimization reports from doctors and nurses must go through these top officers and this can put victim’s career at risk for reporting the matter and that is why its advocacy groups strongly advocate for the creation of an office that would ensure there is centralized system to respond to victims needs and protect them from being victimized by their seniors. This bill has not yet been discussed much as after it was reintroduced it was referred the house subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security and since then nothing else has been talked about it. Unlike other bills on sex and sexuality which draws mixed reactions, this one has not yet met any opposition from any advocacy group and even those who seem to be apprehensive against its passage they are citing phrases that would render it useless if not removed but this does not mean they are opposed to it. For this reason it is quite hard to tell which side is stronger than the other but if the current mood is anything to go by then those in its support are far ahead (National Sexual Violence Resource Center).

    If the Military Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Act will succeed in becoming a law then the women in military service who are everyday exposed to domestic violence and sexual assault will no longer have to worry. Many women are constantly harassed by their male friends while on duty and have to live with the trauma of this assault. The existing laws somehow perpetrates this violence and sexual abuse as all victimization reports made by the nurses and doctors have to reach the top commandants before any other move could be made and this might be used against those who report by losing their jobs but with enactment of this bill that aims at putting in place provisions that would ensure these reports not publicized or used against the victims, the situation will definitely change.