Posted on May 18, 2015
Report: Retaliation against sexual assault victims rampant
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New Sexual Assault Report: Retaliation- Discussion
We had a good discussion on the current way we are all getting our SAPR/SARC briefings with the last discussion I started. I think it went well and had some good responses and had some good discussion. In the Early Bird this morning there is a new report out and here is the link to the Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/18/report-retaliation-against-sexual-assault-victims-rampant/27368747/
I cannot believe there are people that would act the way some of our service members have reacted to victims of sexual assault! So what would you do if you were to witness any of the retaliation that is identified in this article? Why do we have people react and treat others with such disregard? Are we NOT TEAMMATES and in some cases eve extended family?
We had a good discussion on the current way we are all getting our SAPR/SARC briefings with the last discussion I started. I think it went well and had some good responses and had some good discussion. In the Early Bird this morning there is a new report out and here is the link to the Article: http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/05/18/report-retaliation-against-sexual-assault-victims-rampant/27368747/
I cannot believe there are people that would act the way some of our service members have reacted to victims of sexual assault! So what would you do if you were to witness any of the retaliation that is identified in this article? Why do we have people react and treat others with such disregard? Are we NOT TEAMMATES and in some cases eve extended family?
Report: Retaliation against sexual assault victims rampant
Posted from militarytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
Sexual Assault
Leadership
Sexual Assault Leadership
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 5
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I'm glad there's a HUGE push all across the DoD departments to eliminate sexual assault. I'd definitely open my mouth and KEEP IT OPEN UNTIL SOMEONE HEARD ME. Zero toleration for sexual assault!
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This is absurd that Leaders would act like this and tolerate it. I would assist this Soldier in getting moved out of the unit and look into legal action if possible on the ones that were doing it and tolerating it.
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Let me start my response my stating that I in no one condone any form of sexual assault/harassment or retaliation for claiming sexual assault. Whether the offender gets convicted or not I believe that any person who feels they are a victim should be able to come forward without fear of reprisal.
What I would like to comment on is the trend I have been noticing of numbers being thrown out without much context. Or ones that I just a plain guess. In this report the Pentagon said that 16,900 sexual assaults happened in the Army but only 6,131 were reported. If only 6,131 were reported how could you possibly know that 16,900 were assaulted? Do not get me wrong I understand that many victims do not come forward but any number given is a guess. May be a very educated guess but it is none the less a guess. So instead of saying 16,900 sexual assaults happened say that you assume, you guess, or you think. Main point is that it is not a fact. I understand sexual assault is a huge issue but by assigning a higher number to it doesn't help it go away any easier.
Second thing I see in these reports is the numbers given for victims that suffered from adverse action, administrative issues or others infractions after reporting. My question is how many of those are a direct reflection of events that happened. A Soldier that is underage drinking and gets assaulted is not above getting punished for underage drinking. Being assaulted doesn't forgive you of the rules you broke. Give me those numbers as well as the numbers of victims that were falsely punished as retaliation.
With that being said I agree with everyopne here. If i saw that happen in my unit i don't care how much rank you have on i wouldn't stand for it. Retaliation to a victim for being a victim is unacceptable.
What I would like to comment on is the trend I have been noticing of numbers being thrown out without much context. Or ones that I just a plain guess. In this report the Pentagon said that 16,900 sexual assaults happened in the Army but only 6,131 were reported. If only 6,131 were reported how could you possibly know that 16,900 were assaulted? Do not get me wrong I understand that many victims do not come forward but any number given is a guess. May be a very educated guess but it is none the less a guess. So instead of saying 16,900 sexual assaults happened say that you assume, you guess, or you think. Main point is that it is not a fact. I understand sexual assault is a huge issue but by assigning a higher number to it doesn't help it go away any easier.
Second thing I see in these reports is the numbers given for victims that suffered from adverse action, administrative issues or others infractions after reporting. My question is how many of those are a direct reflection of events that happened. A Soldier that is underage drinking and gets assaulted is not above getting punished for underage drinking. Being assaulted doesn't forgive you of the rules you broke. Give me those numbers as well as the numbers of victims that were falsely punished as retaliation.
With that being said I agree with everyopne here. If i saw that happen in my unit i don't care how much rank you have on i wouldn't stand for it. Retaliation to a victim for being a victim is unacceptable.
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SSgt (Join to see)
I agree, I think the 16,900 came of from the anonymous surveys that are given to troops by the services or by the think tanks on behalf of the services to help keep everything anonymous and no reprisals. It is hard to say how many of those numbers are skewed by people just clicking through the survey and not reading, or sometimes purposeful data skewing. For all we really know it could have only been the 6131 reported or it could have been 20,145. There is no real way to know because of the factors and appearance that surrounds the reporting, from the alleged reprisals, and social bullying identified in the article to being too ashamed and the person feeling like they are weak or not worthy to be a military member because they couldn't even protect themselves from being assaulted by someone they know and/or trust.
I also feel that if you broke the rules/laws you should get your discipline/punishment, the assault shouldn't give one immunity of the other crimes/rules broken.
I also would like to know the false reporting numbers and what are the punishments for false reporting? That kind of thing takes money and resources that could go to those who need it and you never hear anything about the false reports, if it was intentional or not, and what happens to those who falsely report or accuse another.
Could some of these be prevented with knowing a stiff punishment was going to happen on a false report/accusation? I by no means would say any are false and take away from the victims but we have seen it happen inside and out of the military.
I also feel that if you broke the rules/laws you should get your discipline/punishment, the assault shouldn't give one immunity of the other crimes/rules broken.
I also would like to know the false reporting numbers and what are the punishments for false reporting? That kind of thing takes money and resources that could go to those who need it and you never hear anything about the false reports, if it was intentional or not, and what happens to those who falsely report or accuse another.
Could some of these be prevented with knowing a stiff punishment was going to happen on a false report/accusation? I by no means would say any are false and take away from the victims but we have seen it happen inside and out of the military.
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