Originally published September 14 2005
Fifty percent of U.S. military women are being sexually harassed, task force finds
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
After 30 years of allowing women into the Army and Navy academies, the results of a new congresional task force show that women are still being sexually harrassed and assaulted, and those responsible aren't being punished.
Fifteen years after an ugly incident involving a female midshipman being assaulted and chained to a urinal called attention to the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault at the nation's military academies, those schools still haven't dealt adequately with the problem.
That's the sorry conclusion of a congressionally mandated task force.
� A subculture at the schools persists in devaluing women in uniform and denigrating their capabilities, creating an atmosphere that tolerates their abuse.
� Records from the past decade show long periods when offenders weren't consistently or effectively disciplined or prosecuted.
� Laws and procedures regarding harassment and assault - and the victims' rights and protections - need updating.
The report focused on the Army and Navy academies and follows other investigations triggered by the 2003 sex scandal at the Air Force Academy.
The ugly bottom line: Nearly 30 years after women were finally admitted to the academies, and when women are being increasingly relied on in combat situations, too many cadets and some officers are lost in the past.
In a survey last year, more than 50% of the women at the three academies reported being sexually harassed.
The task force offered more than four dozen recommendations, ranging from tougher consequences for violators to putting more women in visible positions of leadership.
Most should have been obvious long ago.
But the record is one of addressing the issue only sporadically and incompletely.
It is, in short, a failure of military leadership.
Despite the musings of misogynists, women are in the military to stay.
Sexual harassment is, in the words of the task force, not a "fix and forget" problem.
"What is needed now is a long-term, sustained effort."
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