Discussions about state sponsored violence usually centers around our concern for police brutality..However, we need to make sure when speaking about this we include what is taking place in our military..Last year alone there were over 26 thousand sexual assaults.. 26 thousand.. and those are the ones that’s been reported.. Out of those 26 thousand only 238 had been addressed..This breaks down to over 70 assaults a day..
The other day a Facebook page showing pictures of battered women and ‘humorous’ comments like ‘She burned the bacon once’ was just pulled down after Bay Area Congress woman Jackie Spiers made a stink.. Her office had confirmed that the Facebook page was being updated by active military personnel..
Its estimated that over one third of the women enlisted in the military have been assaulted by fellow soldiers…There’s a stunning documentary called ‘Invisible War: Home ‘ which was nominated for an Academy Award, that addresses this you can click the link here http://invisiblewarmovie.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB88QE0TSDE
As this inexcusable conduct is taking place with no signs of slowing down or being contained several things need to be kept in mind. First, we just saw our President push to allow for the FBI to have more access to watch over ordinary citizens to make sure we don’t do something foul.. We’ve seen increased militarization of our police forces all over the country where surveillance, some form of stop and frisk are all being deployed..We should be asking what measures, what cameras, what sort of surveillance is being put in place to make sure rapes and sexual assaults cease within our military? Seems to me that’s where we have a big time problem..
Second, many in the military who have committed sexual assaults or have witnessed them and remained silent eventually come home and get jobs as police officers or work in our jails..What sort of mindset do these folks have when they are patrolling our streets with a badge and gun and increased powers? Have you noticed over the past year the increase in the reporting of police sexually assaulting citizens.. There were high-profile cases in New York City, Chicago and several other cities last year…You can peep more info at the site Campaign Against Police Sexual Assault.
Third, the fact that there has been little movement around this is beyond frightening.. Yes, the White House will respond to these allegations but keep in mind the documentary on sexual assaults in the military has been out for over a year and we haven’t heard or seen too much progress.. The fact that there was a heavily trafficked Facebook page making fun of battered women put up by members of the military in recent weeks underscores this lack of movement.. This means we have lawmakers who we put in office who have sat on their hands and done nothing..
We need to ask ourselves where is this coming from? How is this allowed to happen? Where they influenced by entertainers like a Chris Brown or Rick Ross or was it the other way around? What we are dealing with is something systemic and deeply embedded in the culture of those who serve.. It’s no different then the culture of violence we see directed at citizens by our police..
Where are the good soldiers.. Male soldiers in particular to step up and speak out on this? Where are they to condemn this? Are there gag orders in place causing silence?
Right now we have a War on Terror which has had us in countries all over the world.. From the looks of things the terror that we are searching for is on our military bases as women are being raped with impunity.. All of us should be outraged and stunned into action to end this madness..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAOw1vRq-7o&feature=youtu.be