Soldier As Rapist: All Too Common

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Soldier As Rapist:
All Too Common

http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/03/19/soldier-as-rapist-all-too-common/

March 19, 2010
by Natalie Wilson

Fort Bragg soldier Spc. Aaron Pernell, 22, an indirect fire
infantryman who has served two tours in Iraq, was charged with sexual
assault in February. Pernell appeared in court Tuesday on 13 charges
including rape and attempted rape. What's unique about these charges
are that they were made at all: thousands of other military rapists
have escaped punishment in the past fifteen years, according to the
Denver Post in its excellent investigative series [PDF].

As the Ms. Blog recently reported, a new Pentagon study confirms that
militarized sexual violence (MSV) is on the rise. Yet, while crimes
such as those Pernell is charged with are all too common,
perpetrators regularly escape punishment and often re-enter the
civilian world with no criminal record.

Since one-third of women who join the military are raped or sexually
assaulted by fellow soldiers, we must recognize that the soldier as
rapist is all too common. Given that rape and sexual assault rates
rise in the civilian world during wartime, we must also recognize
that militarized sexual violence is trickling down into our
communities. As more soldiers return home, we can expect more crimes
like those Pernell is charged with.

In fact, areas surrounding military bases have already seen
increasing numbers of sexual assault. Stacy Bannerman, author of When
the War Came Home, calls this "collateral damage," writing:

In the past five years, hundreds, if not thousands, of women have
been beaten, assaulted, or terrorized when their husbands, fiancés,
or boyfriends got back from Iraq. Dozens of military wives have been
strangled, shot, decapitated, dismembered, or otherwise murdered when
their husbands brought the war on terror home.

The practice of granting moral waivers–which allow people to enlist
who have records of domestic violence, sex crimes, and
manslaughter–may also exacerbate rates of MSV. Further, as Professor
Carol Burke documents, many soldiers enlist as teenagers to escape
troubled or violent homes. Since such abuse (if not addressed) tends
to be cyclical, filling our military ranks with abuse survivors
without addressing childhood trauma, offering psychological
counseling, or implementing anti-abuse training, is a recipe for
continued violence. These factors, in conjunction with the prevalence
of PTSD (post-traumatic-stress-disorder) in returning soldiers, which
has been linked to enacting violence, likely means that rates of MSV
will not be going down anytime soon.

Though Pernell's case is a horrific one, sadly it is far from unique.
To read more on this subject, watch for my feature article in the
upcoming Spring issue of Ms. magazine.

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