Female Veterans Sue Pentagon

[Berta]

http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/12/15/32611.htm

Available at VA WatchdogToday as well

In Part:

"Rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment "occur nearly twice as often within military ranks as they do within civilian life" and are the leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder in women veterans, but the Pentagon refuses to release information on it, or on its feeble efforts to help women who suffer from it, the Service Women's Action Network says in a federal FOIA complaint. "

"With the ACLU as co-plaintiff, the Service Women cite surveys which "indicate that between 6 and 23 percent of women experience one attempted or completed rape during their service period, depending on the decade. And the story gets worse: 37 percent of military rape victims experience multiple rapes, and 14 percent experience gang rape."

     The complaint continues: "Due to underreporting, the prevalence of MST is likely far greater than current reports suggest. Fear, uncertainty, military dynamics, and military structure prevent victims from reporting approximately 80 percent of the unwanted or threatening sexual acts that they experience."

This is a very important issue and lawsuit.

[carlie]

Berta,

Thanks for posting this.

[Wings]

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Bump.

They claim that "Even though MST is rampant in the military, the government only prosecutes 8 percent of military sex offenders. By contrast, domestic authorities prosecute 40 percent of all civilian sex offenders. This disparity is especially striking given the fact that the sexual assault of women occurs twice as frequently in the military as it does in civil society. The dearth of prosecutions cases doubt on the government's claim that it is serious about reducing and preventing MST within the military."