Why Does Sexual Assault Occur In The Army

Introduction

In this essay, I will be talking about how sexual assaults continue in the army. Why does sexual assault occur in the Army? Some points are why it occurs, the approach, and how we can fix it. It continues due to that fact of lack of prevention. In the year 2017 reporting went up 10 percent due to more prevention. 

Sexual Assault in the Army as a Power Play

Sexual assaults continue to occur for the main reason of soldiers trying to be in the power over other soldiers.

They believe if they commit sexual assault on another soldier they are gaining the power over them. Even though that soldier may be of higher rank than them they still have to have that power over them. More times than not males are the ones getting sexually assaulted and they won’t come forward. Some cases are found that they are lying to get another soldier out of the army or military.

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Since those cases end up like that more and more soldiers don’t report it due to the fact it may come back not being true. The ones that don’t report it to comes to be another victim from someone else.

Prevention of Sexual Assault in the Army

The current approach to training can reduce the risk of sexual assault and harassment. The approach we have for the army works on a small scale because we still have a lot of reports. For the most part, I believe that our approach doesn’t reduce the risk.

I say that because most people who go to the SHARP classes don’t pay attention to how they can report it and prevent it. More and more assaults will go up until soldiers start getting classes that will get the soldier's attention.

To end sexual violence in the army we have to do more prevention. For the whole army to end sexual violence, we have to start prevention at the lowest level. If prevention doesn’t occur, it will be harder for any sexual harassment to be right. For any prevention to occur, we have to set more classes and more discussions about it. We need to implement more stats on the actual stats of what has happened and what can happen if we implement them. The department of defense said in 2017 the reports went up 10 percent. In my mind, the percentage of reports should be a lot higher. I believe those stats will go up if the soldiers intervene more and know exactly what they are looking for.

Conclusion

In conclusion, to prevent sexual assaults continue in the army we need to do more prevention. The approach we in the army have is working but not doing a great job since we still don’t have a lot of reports. We as soldiers need to learn a better approach and get better knowledge on sexual harassment/ assault. That's why does sexual assault occur in the Army. This is how we prevent, take an approach, and how to fix sexual assault in the army.

Works Cited

1. Department of Defense. (2018). Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program Report. Retrieved from https://www.sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY17_Annual_Report_on_Sexual_Assault_in_the_Military.pdf
2. Kilpatrick, D. G., Resnick, H. S., Ruggiero, K. J., Conoscenti, L. M., & McCauley, J. (2007). Drug-facilitated, incapacitated, and forcible rape: A national study. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/219181.pdf
3. Koss, M. P., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (2001). Rape and sexual assault. In E. Foa, T. Keane, M. Friedman, & J. Cohen (Eds.), Effective treatments for PTSD: Practice guidelines from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (pp. 179–212). Guilford Press.
4. National Institute of Justice. (2006). The Sexual Victimization of College Women. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/210317.pdf
5. Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN). (n.d.). Military Sexual Trauma. Retrieved from https://www.rainn.org/articles/military-sexual-trauma
6. Stander, V. A., & Thomsen, C. J. (2016). Sexual assault in the U.S. military: A review of the literature and recommendations for the future. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 27, 33-42. doi: 10.1016/j.avb.2016.02.002
7. U.S. Army. (2021). Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention (SHARP). Retrieved from https://www.army.mil/sharp/
8. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2021). Military Sexual Trauma. Retrieved from https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/suicide_prevention/military_sexual_trauma.asp
9. Wegner, R., Pierce, L., & Birney, S. (2018). Sexual assault and sexual harassment in the US military: An overview. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 19(2), 161-177. doi: 10.1177/1524838016681367
10. Zinzow, H. M., Resnick, H. S., & Barr, S. C. (2016). Prevention and treatment of military sexual assault: Current challenges and future directions. Military Medicine, 181(11), e1483-e1490. doi: 10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00525