Women's Risk of Rape in the Military Environment - Case Study Example

Invisible war Presenting problem The client was brought to the agency because of the maltreatment from the side of her colleagues while serving active duty. She reported that after several months from her joining the military, she has been raped several times by two different commanding officers. One of the biggest pressing issues that is experienced by the client focuses on her inability to get justice, since every officer who is higher in the chain of commands it somehow connected to the two perpetrators and, therefore, it is clear that the former are not going to press charges against their friends. In other words, there is no legal way to make these people responsible. Another pressing issue is the collateral damage that is caused to the organism of the client. Since she tried to resist the rapes, the perpetrators had to forcefully immobilize the client and that had a tremendous negative impact on her body. Furthermore, there are several psychological issues that are associated with such experience that have a destructive influence on client’s behavior as well. She decided to ask for help since such state of affairs does not allow her to live a full life and since there is no way to influence the situation within the given chain of command, it is necessary to tackle the issue from a different perspective Research Sadler, A. G., Booth, B. M., Cook, B. L., & Doebbeling, B. N. (2003). Factors associated with womens risk of rape in the military environment. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 43(3), 262-273. The article in question suggests that while rape in the army is largely regarded as a sorrowful accident that must be avoided, there are several factors that actually contribute to the chance of its occurrence. As a result, it is absolutely possible to determine those factors and influence. They are previous history of sexual assault, user of alcohol and drugs by the active servicemen and relationships between the officers in command. This research provides several valuable insights. To begin with, it is clear that the use of alcohol and drugs significantly increases the chance of occurrence of rape, even though originally men had no such intention. Many survivors point out that the improvised “bars” that soldiers create for themselves or those that the visit pose one of the biggest threat to the security of women as men how have exceeded the reasonable amount of alcohol tend to lose control over their actions and might make steps that they would later regret, including rape. Another element that should be taken into account is the relationship between the officers and the chain of command and the ability of those who are higher in this hierarchy to defend those who are lower. By known all these elements, it is quite possible to decrease the chance of rape. Speaking of the reasons why these aspects are helpful, one should note the following: they reflect the driving forces that affect perpetrators. Indeed, it is quite obvious that many of the rapists did not plan their crime, it just occurred to them while their mind was distorted by alcohol or drugs. In other word, all these help the researchers understand the behavior of the people. In addition to that, if they know that they could possible get away with it, they are more inclined to perform such actions. It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the tradition of consuming alcohol or drugs is sometimes used as a reinforcement of the patriarchal dominance in the society. With this in mind, it becomes obvious that when men have drunk enough, they are willing to reinforce their masculine image by another act that is supposedly regarded as very many. There is a firm connection that can be drawn from this to the rape culture that is not being promoted by the society, but is surely praised by some of its members. Furthermore, the connections between the commanding officers show the institutionalized dominance of men in virtually every areas of social environment. Indeed, even though women were granted an ability to serve their country in the army, they are still treated as second class soldiers because of various reasons: the supposed physical weakness, the traditional supporting role in the society and so on. Therefore, there is no wonder that in the army women are oppressed just like there are oppressed in the daily life: it is the extent of oppression that is changed, but not its nature. Young, S. A. (1995). Rape trauma syndrome in the military courts. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 23(4), 563-571. The author of this article argues that the military courts in the majority of the cases take the side of the victim in case of rape that occurred in army. Furthermore, the text contains helpful discussion about the definition of resistance: the core concept that is engaged when it comes to analyzing a case of a rape. In addition to that, rape trauma syndrome (RTS) can be easily diagnosed by the specialists and is used as evidence of the rape. Therefore, it is always beneficial to report a rape since the court will punish the rapist; however, there is a considerable number of cases that were no documented. This approach can be really helpful while addressing the problem of the client since it shows that the latter must file a complaint to the court and the latter is beyond the power of her commanding officers. In other words, a victim of a rape might think that no other body can help her problem, but in really courts almost always rule in favor of women which creates a positive precedent for such cases. There is no doubt that this approach should be used, because it provides the client with a legal power to protect her rights and punish the people who might otherwise get away with their negative actions. As a result, the client will not longer be deprived of power to change something: one will understand that law is on her side and that it is necessary to make an official complain rather than struggle with the problems alone. In other words, it justifies the need to go to a court and cross the boundaries of the power of the commanding officers who will place obstacle on the way of fair investigation. On the one hand, this information is very helpful since it shows that while women may be mistreated in the contemporary society and especially in some parts of it, they still can achieve justice in case they file an official complaint to the court. While some might mention that the latter may be biased and discriminate against women, the statistics shows quite the opposite: the victims of a rape that occurred in the army are able to get their rights protected effectively with the help of law. On the other hand, this approach shows that while women in the military have to obey men who are higher in the chain of commands, the latter will always use the power that is available to them in order to reinforce their dominance. In other words, patriarchy in the society in general and in military in particular will disappear when men will not be in the position to command women. Keeping in mind that this is no likely to happen because of the continuous inertia of interaction between genders, women will have to find other ways to tackle the power of men since the direct opposition of the use of the designed framework will take the former nowhere. References Sadler, A. G., Booth, B. M., Cook, B. L., & Doebbeling, B. N. (2003). Factors associated with womens risk of rape in the military environment. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 43(3), 262-273. Young, S. A. (1995). Rape trauma syndrome in the military courts. Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online, 23(4), 563-571. Read More