SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/us/28women.html?em
December 28, 2009
Women at Arms
Johan Spanner for The New York Times
Capt. Margaret H. White said she was sexually assaulted
and harassed by a fellow soldier while serving in Iraq.
BAGHDAD — Capt. Margaret H. White
began a relationship with a warrant officer while both were training to
be deployed to Iraq. By the time they arrived this year at Camp Taji,
north of here, she felt what she called “creepy vibes” and tried to
break it off.
In the claustrophobic confines of a combat post, it was not easy to
do. He left notes on the door to her quarters, alternately pleading and
menacing. He forced her to have sex, she said. He asked her to marry
him, though he was already married. He waited for her outside the
women’s latrines or her quarters, once for three hours.
“It got to the point that I felt safer outside the wire,” Captain
White said, referring to operations that take soldiers off their
heavily fortified bases, “than I did taking a shower.”
Her ordeal ended with the military equivalent of a restraining order
and charges of stalking against the officer. It is one case that
highlights the new and often messy reality the military has had to face
as men and women serve side by side in combat zones more than ever
before.
Sexual harassment and sexual assault, which the military now defines
broadly to include not only rape but also crimes like groping and
stalking, continue to afflict the ranks, and by some measures are
rising. While tens of thousands of women have served in Iraq and
Afghanistan, often in combat, often with distinction, the integration
of men and women in places like Camp Taji has forced to the surface
issues that commanders rarely, if ever confronted before.
The military — belatedly, critics say — has radically changed the
way it handles sexual abuse in particular, expanding access to
treatment and toughening rules for prosecution. In the hardships of
war, though, the effects of the changes remain unclear.
The strains of combat, close quarters in remote locations, tension
and even boredom can create the conditions for abuse, even as they
hinder medical care for victims and legal proceedings against those who
attack them.
Captain White said she had feared coming forward, despite having
become increasingly despondent and suffered panic attacks, because she
was wary of she-said-he-said recriminations that would reverberate
through the tightknit military world and disrupt the mission. Despite
the military’s stated “zero tolerance” for abuse or harassment, she had
no confidence her case would be taken seriously and so tried to cope on
her own, Captain White said.
A Pentagon-appointed task force, in a report
released this month, pointedly criticized the military’s efforts to
prevent sexual abuse, citing the “unique stresses” of deployments in
places like Camp Taji. “Some military personnel indicated that
predators may believe they will not be held accountable for their
misconduct during deployment because commanders’ focus on the mission
overshadows other concerns,” the report said.
That, among other reasons, is why sexual assault and harassment go
unreported far more often than not. “You’re in the middle of a war
zone,” Captain White said, reflecting a fear many military women
describe of being seen, somehow, as harming the mission.
“So it’s kind of like that one little thing is nothing compared with
‘There is an I.E.D. that went off in this convoy today and three people
were injured,’ ” she said, referring to an improvised explosive device.
Common Fears
By the Pentagon’s own estimate, as few as 10 percent of sexual
assaults are reported, far lower than the percentage reported in the
civilian world. Specialist Erica A. Beck, a mechanic and gunner who
served in Diyala Province in Iraq this summer, recalled a sexual
proposition she called “inappropriate” during her first tour in the
country in 2006-7. “Not necessarily being vulgar, but he, you know, was
asking for favors,” she said.
She did not report it, she said, because she feared that her commanders would have reacted harshly — toward her.
“It was harassment,” she said. “And because it was a warrant officer, I didn’t say anything. I was just a private.”
Her fears were common, according to soldiers and advocates who remain skeptical of the military’s efforts to address abuse. A report last year by the Government Accountability Office
concluded that victims were reluctant to report attacks “for a variety
of reasons, including the belief that nothing would be done or that
reporting an incident would negatively impact their careers.”
When Sgt. Tracey R. Phillips told a superior about an unwanted
sexual advance from a private the night their unit arrived in Iraq in
May, the accusations unleashed a flurry of charges and countercharges,
an initial investigation of her on charges of adultery, a crime in the
military justice system, and, according to her account, violations by
her commanders of the new procedures meant to ease reporting of abuse.
In the end, she was kicked out of Iraq and the Army itself, while the private remained on duty here.
The military disputed her account but declined to state the reasons
for sending her out of Iraq. Her paperwork showed that she received an
honorable discharge, though with “serious misconduct” cited as the
reason. The so-called misconduct, she said, stemmed from the Army’s
allegation that she had had an inappropriate relationship with the
private she accused. She denied that.
“If I would have never, ever, ever said anything, I wouldn’t be
sitting here,” she said in an interview at her parents’ home near San
Antonio. “I’d still be in Iraq.”
At bases around Iraq, many said that acceptance and respect for
women in uniform were now more common than the opposite. In part, they
said, that reflects a sweeping change in military culture that has
accompanied the rise of women through the ranks and into more positions
once reserved for men.
“It’s not tolerated — it’s just not,” said Lt. Brenda L. Beegle, a
married military police officer, referring to sexual harassment and
abuse.
In an interview at Liberty Base, near Baghdad’s airport, she said:
“Everyone has heard stories about bad things that have happened. I’ve
never had an issue.”
Although exact comparisons to the civilian world are difficult
because of different methods of defining and reporting abuse, Pentagon
officials and some experts say that the incidence of abuse in the
military appears to be no higher than in society generally, and might
be lower. It appears to be even lower in combat operations than at
bases in the United States, because of stricter discipline and scrutiny
during deployments, as well as restrictions on alcohol, which is often
a factor in assaults, for example, on college campuses.
Complaints Increase
The number of complaints, though, is rising. Across the military,
there were 2,908 reported cases of sexual abuse involving service
members as victims or assailants, in the fiscal year that ended in
September 2008, the last year for which the Pentagon made numbers
available. That was an 8 percent increase from the previous year, when
there were 2,688.
In the turbulent regions from Egypt to Afghanistan where most
American combat troops are now deployed, the increase in reported cases
was even sharper: 251 cases, compared with 174 the year before, a 44
percent increase. The number in Iraq rose to 143, from 112 the year
before. Everyone agrees that those represent only a fraction of the
instances of assault, let alone harassment.
“A woman in the military is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq,” Representative Jane Harman,
a Democrat from California, said at a Congressional hearing this year,
repeating an assertion she has made a refrain in a campaign of hers to
force the military to do more to address abuses.
At least 10 percent of the victims in the last year were men, a
reality that the Pentagon’s task force said the armed services had done
practically nothing to address in terms of counseling, treatment and
prosecution. Men are considered even less likely to report attacks,
officials said, because of the stigma, and fears that their own sexual
orientation would be questioned. In the majority of the reported cases,
the attacker was male.
Senior Pentagon officials argued that the increase in reports did
not necessarily signify a higher number of attacks. Rather, they said,
there is now a greater awareness as well as an improved command
climate, encouraging more victims to come forward.
“We believe the increase in the number of reported cases means the
department is capturing a greater proportion of the cases that occurred
during the year, which is good news,” said the Pentagon’s senior official overseeing abuse policies, Kaye Whitley.
The military can no more eradicate sexual abuse than can society in
general, but soldiers, officers and experts acknowledge that it is
particularly harmful when soldiers are in combat zones, affecting not
only the victims but also, as the military relies more than ever on
women when the nation goes to war, the mission.
“For the military the potential costs are even higher as it can also
negatively impact mission readiness,” the Pentagon’s annual report on
sexual abuse said, referring to sexual violence. “Service members risk
their lives for one another and bear the responsibility of keeping
fellow service members out of harm’s way. Sexual assault in the
military breaks this bond.”
Even investigations into accusations, which are often difficult to
prove, can disrupt operations. In Sergeant Phillips’s case, she was
relieved of her duties leading a squad of soldiers refueling emergency
rescue helicopters and other aircraft at Camp Kalsu, south of Baghdad.
Cases like hers suggest that the vagaries of sex and sexual abuse,
especially in combat zones, continue to vex commanders on the ground,
despite the transformation of the military’s policies.
The majority of sexual abuse allegations end with no prosecution at
all. Of 2,171 suspects of investigations that were completed during the
fiscal year that ended in September 2008, only 317 faced a
court-martial. Another 515 faced administrative punishments or
discharges. Nearly half of the completed investigations lacked evidence
or were “unsubstantiated or unfounded.”
The Pentagon, facing criticism, maintains that it has transformed
the way it handles sexual abuse. In the wake of the invasions of
Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as highly publicized cases and
revelations of rampant abuse at the Air Force Academy in 2003,
the Pentagon created a single agency to oversee the issue and rewrote
the rules of reporting, treatment and prosecution. Beginning in October
2007, the Uniform Code of Military Justice expanded the provision that
once covered rape — Article 120 — to include other offenses, like
indecent exposure and stalking.
The Army, which has provided the bulk of the forces in Iraq, has
increased the number of investigators and lawyers trained to
investigate accusations. Most bases now have kits to collect forensic evidence in rape cases, which was not the case immediately after the invasion in 2003.
Larger field hospitals in Balad and Mosul now have the same type of
sexual assault nurse examiners widely used in the civilian world, as
well as a dozen other examiners who are not nurses but are trained to
conduct forensic examinations.
The military has set up a system of confidential advisers women can
turn to who are outside the usual chain of command — an avenue Sergeant
Phillips said she had been denied.
If they want to, the women can now seek medical treatment and
counseling without setting off a criminal investigation. And all the
services have started educational programs to address aspects of a
hierarchical warrior culture that some say contributes to hostility
toward women. Posters for the campaign blanket bulletin boards in
offices, chow halls and recreational buildings on bases across Iraq.
The military’s efforts, however well intentioned, are often
undermined by commanders who are skeptical or even conflicted,
suspicious of accusations and fearful that reports of abuse reflect
badly on their commands. The Pentagon task force also reported that
victims of assault did not come forward because they might “have
engaged in misconduct for which they could be disciplined, such as
under-age drinking, fraternization or adultery.”
Marti Ribeiro, then an Air Force sergeant, said she was raped by
another soldier after she stepped away from a guard post in Afghanistan
in 2006 to smoke a cigarette, a story first recounted in “The Lonely Soldier,” a book by Helen Benedictabout
women who served in Iraq and elsewhere. When she went to the abuse
coordinator, she was threatened with prosecution for having left her
weapon and her post.
“I didn’t get any help at all, let alone compassion,” said Ms. Ribeiro, who has since retired and joined the Service Women’s Action Network, a new advocacy organization devoted to shaping the Pentagon’s policy.
The hardships of combat operations often compound the anguish of
victims and complicate investigations, as well as counseling and
treatment. The Government Accountability Office
suggested that the “unique living and social circumstances” of combat
posts heightened the risk for assault. Both the G.A.O. and the
Pentagon’s task force found that, despite the Pentagon’s policy, remote
bases did not have adequate medical and mental health services for
victims. The task force also found that abuse coordinators and victim
advocates were often ill trained or absent.
As a result, victims often suffer the consequences alone, working in
the heat and dust, living in trailers surrounded by gravel and concrete
blast walls, with nowhere private to retreat to. In Captain White’s
case, she had to work and live beside the man who assaulted and stalked
her until their deployment ended in August and they both went home.
“You’re in such a fishbowl,” she said. “You can’t really get away
from someone. You see him in the chow hall. You see him in the gym.”
The Danger Nearby
Captain White’s case is typical of many here, according to military
lawyers and experts, in that she knew the man she said assaulted her,
circumstances that complicated the investigation and prosecution.
She had dated the warrant officer when they arrived in Fort Dix,
N.J., for predeployment training with the 56th Stryker Combat Team. The
newly revised article of the Uniform Code of Military Justice says that
“a current or previous dating relationship by itself” does not
constitute consent.
Once at Camp Taji, a sprawling base just north of Baghdad, she grew
troubled by his behavior. He cajoled her with presents and sent her
e-mail messages. She said that for fear of running into him, she
stopped drinking water after 7 p.m. so she would not have to go to the
latrine at night alone.
She never came forward herself. Her case came to light only when
military prosecutors questioned her about another investigation
involving the warrant officer. He was ultimately charged with 19
offenses, said Lt. Col. Philip J. Smith, a spokesman for the division
that oversaw operations in central Iraq. The charges included seven
counts of fraternization and two of adultery, interfering with an
investigation and, in Captain White’s case, stalking.
After their deployment ended in September, the officer pleaded
guilty and resigned from the Army in lieu of prosecution, Colonel Smith
said.
Captain White said that she was satisfied with the legal outcome of
her case, though her account of it highlighted the emotional strains
that sexual abuse causes.
“I’m not saying that I handled it the best way,” she said in an
interview after her own retirement from the Army, “but I handled it at
the time and in the situation what I thought was the best way, which
was just to keep my head down, keep going — which was kind of an Army
thing to say: Drive on.”
Kassie Bracken contributed reporting from San Antonio and Houston.
Readers' Comments (One among 12 pages of comments)
"Women
serving in the military isn't the problem (and neither are homosexuals
who serve). The problem is adults who can't take responsibility for
their poor behavior."
DW, NY
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