Niki Tsongas: Alarms on sex assaults in military

[unhappycamper]

Alarms on sex assaults in military
By Bryan Bender
Globe Staff / January 3, 2011

WASHINGTON — Soon after she arrived in Congress three years ago, Representative Niki Tsongas attended a luncheon in the Capitol honoring wounded soldiers. The Lowell Democrat, chatting with a military nurse who had served in Iraq and Afghanistan, heard something that shocked and motivated her.

“She made the astonishing statement to me that she was more fearful of our own soldiers than she was of the enemy,’’ Tsongas recalled in an interview.

Tsongas, a member of the Armed Services Committee, embarked on a mission to protect the rising number of troops who report being sexually assaulted by fellow soldiers — a campaign that paid off with recent passage of legislation aimed at improving the Pentagon’s handling of rape and sexual abuse cases.

~snip~

The Pentagon says there were 3,230 reported sexual assaults involving military members in fiscal year 2009. That was an 11 percent increase from 2008, according to the statistics.

~snip~

At the same time, military officials estimate that as much as 90 percent of sexual assaults in the ranks go unreported. According to the Government Accountability Office, many victims remain silent because they fear ridicule or believe that no action will be taken.

[BlueIris]

1. It shocked me to learn two years ago that joining the military actually increases

a woman's chances of being assaulted in her lifetime.

[unhappycamper]

2. Current estimates are that 33% of all females in the military will either be raped or suffer

sexual harassment.

I'll bet the actual number is higher than 33%. :(

[w8liftinglady]

3. and if you talk to female homeless vets,it's more like 80%