One in three women in the military has been sexually assaulted. This staggering statistic has drawn scrutiny to how the military addresses claims of sexual assault, while also calling to question why women in the military are so much more likely to be assaulted than civilian women.
Former marine CJ Scarlett assesses that the culture of the military contributes to such a threatening environment.
“You are in a very closed patriarchal environment where women are put in a situation where there is that hierarchy of authority,” she shared with host Jacob Soboroff during a HuffPost Live segment on sexual harassment in the workplace.
“In my case, I was raped by my recruiter, and I experienced sexual harassment on a daily basis all throughout my five years in the Marine Corps. To the point that I started out as honor graduate of my platoon, an exemplary marine, and by the time I got out five years later, I was so depressed and demoralized that I felt like I was worthless.”
Though Scarlett wanted to come forward, her rapist threatened her with a demotion.
“Sometimes it might not be appropriate for you to tell the person ‘no’, simply because your job may be on the line, as mine was,” she said. “He made it very clear, jokingly of course, that he could demote me to a cook for my six years in the Marine Corps, rather than being in public affairs like I had signed on for. So I had this threat dangling over my head and I was afraid that if I didn’t go along, didn’t remain silent, that six years of my life would be in jeopardy.”
Soboroff and Scarlett were joined by Kelly Bourdet, a writer for Vice Magazine, Julie Blais Comeau, a former HR manager and blogger, and Danya Craig, a writer.
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This comment has not yet been postedIt seems like people just want to say a bunch of nonsense to "counter" her. Instead of just listening to her story and seeing her as a human being that had to go through an experience in a very male dominated culture you.
My aunt is a lawyer for the Air Force. She specializes in sex crimes. And while she isn't allowed to talk about her specific cases, she has said that she has seen an increase sexual misconduct that she didn't use to see when she first started. In most cases, it is sexual conduct of a male against a female. My guess is that when it happens to men against men, a lot of men don't talk about it. They don't want to be shamed or embarressed or thought weak. So we need to stop actually shaming the actual person that the actual crime was committed against.
Instead of attacking this women and being all pious about the perfect way you might have reacted, how about we just listen to her story? And how about instead of trying to act like her sharing her story means she is saying it doesn't happen to men, how about we just listen to her? How about instead of shaming her for what *you* think she should have done or what you've would have done because you're such a superior person, how about we get to the bottom of why sex crimes happen in the first place.
Seems like he had no clue or lied....
Can you please tell more? You say that your aunt is a lawyer for the Air Force and she specializes in sex crimes.
Who would she help in this case?
The woman? The men who abused her? The Air Force itself, so they won't get sued by her?
I know one thing. My daughter will NEVER join the Air Force.
I also don't think the answer is that no woman should ever join the Air Force. My aunt did and she was never sexually assulted. My brother's wife also was in the Air Force, and now the Navy and she never experienced that either. And she is a beautiful petite blond! I think having a female presence in the military is important. I just think people need to stop belitting the actual victim and giving "lessons" about what they should have done and basically insinuating that she kind of deserved what happened to her because she wasn't perfect. That's flat out wrong.
But you know what? I doesn't matter that she didn't speak up. It matters that she was sexually blackmailed to begin with .
I also think it's strange how a woman speaking up about her experience is the one taking the criticism instead of the actual person that was doing the actual sexually harassing.Alot of you sure had something to say about her and what she didn't do perfectly but you didn't make one comment about the actual person that committed the real crime here. Further, by her accounting her story, no one said that it doesn't happen to men or kids or whoever.
...... continued
As an anecdotal story, I have my own experience with sexual assault "victims." I was the CMEO officer for a command of about 5,000. During my three years there, we had about 10 cases of sexual assault that we investigated. All were female alleged victims and male alleged perpetrators. Three of the cases were thrown out when friends and/or BEQ roommates of the victims reported that the "victim" had made up the story. In all three of the cases, the individuals involved all had various past disciplinary issues and were obviously trying to use the allegations to leave the service. The were all dishonorably discharged, but that's it. No brig time. Nothing.
I'm not saying that all rape allegations are false. That obviously isn't true. But unless we start treating the fake allegations more seriously with proper punishment, then these fake allegations will continue to discredit the real claims and make things harder and harder to investigate and to prosecute.
Why would she have been raped by her recruiter. I thought there was a lag time and a period when you could change your mind?
For those wondering "How" this happens in the military, it's called sexual tension. Being away on deployment for months or years away from home, sexual tensions build up. Sex is a basic human need. People start craving it like a crack addict after awhile, doesn't matter if you're a man or woman. Everyone around you starts looking good, worse than beer googles. You could be just quietly sitting there in a room, bored, and probably want to relieve some stress and next thing you know, you just had sex with someone you barely like, and usually, when it's time to go home, you are filled with regrets. You have two choices, never talk about it, or get divorced. It's either you or your spouse at home will cheat. That is the reality of being in the military.
So why exactly did this woman wait so long to tell her story? It's simple. She's been in denial that the so-called sexual assault has been consensual the whole time.
I did once see a male come on to a male in a classroom setting. They were both students and it was mostly done just to make the young man "just off the farm" uncomfortable. Another petty officer and I went and spoke to our instructor, after telling the aggressor to knock it off. He was a friend of mine. He got counseled and stopped messing with the young guys who had never seen a homosexual before - in fact some of them didn't even know that they existed. This was way before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell".