Sexual Assaults Should Be Expected by Female Military Personnel, According to Fox News Contributor

If you haven't already heard, one of Fox News' contributors, Liz Trotta, made some disparaging remarks about women in the military.  Trotta was issuing commentary in light of the Pentagon announcing new rules easing the ban on women serving in combat.  For Trotta, the issue is having “women once more, the feminist, going, wanting to be warriors and victims at the same time.” She cited a recent Pentagon report that violent sex crimes in the military have increased over the last 6 years and said women should “expect” it, decrying more levels of bureaucracy to support women who have been “raped too much.“  Here  are her comments.


TROTTA: But while all of this is going on, just a few weeks ago, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta commented on a new Pentagon report on sexual abuse in the military. I think they have actually discovered there is a difference between men and women. And the sexual abuse report says that there has been, since 2006, a 64% increase in violent sexual assaults. Now, what did they expect? These people are in close contact, the whole airing of this issue has never been done by Congress, it’s strictly been a question of pressure from the feminist.
And the feminists have also directed them, really, to spend a lot of money. They have sexual counselors all over the place, victims’ advocates, sexual response coordinators. … So, you have this whole bureaucracy upon bureaucracy being built up with all kinds of levels of people to support women in the military who are now being raped too much.


Of course, we, as a sexual assault center, are discouraged by someone in the media saying that women should expect to be raped.  Women joining the military expect a lot of things--to be pushed physically in basic training, to be educated on their particular job, to wear a uniform and be critiqued on that uniform's tidiness.  But because something is common does not make it right.  Women should not have to "deal with" harrassment, or sexual assaults because it has become commonplace.  We need to work to make it rare.


The commentator also reasoned that "these people are in close contact," insinuating that it is due to their close proximity to men that women get assaulted.  This comment is in the vein of "boys will be boys" or "he couldn't help himself."  Being in close contact does not give someone the right to sexually assault another person.


The assertion that feminists have pressured Congress to spend a great deal of money to help victims also is problematic.  Oh, what a terrible fate for victims of crime!  To have a support system, to have commanders who know what to do when someone reports a sexual assault, to have evidence preserved for prosecution, how dare they want justice and support! 


Transitions is a part of the healing process and part of the support system for sexual assault victims in Union, Snyder, and Northumberland Counties.  We see how important we are to victims who may not have anyone else to speak to at 3:00 am, when they have a flashback.  We are lucky enough to have a Sexual Assault Response Team in Snyder County, with an empathetic District Attorney, an understanding County Detective, cooperation from Evangelical Hospital's SANE program, and the Victim/Witness Coordinator.  We have seen how much easier it is for a victim to operate within a justice system that cohesively works together.  We hope that the military is able to do the same.  I would also argue that many sexual assault victims who reach out for help do not find "sexual counselors all over the place," and wonder if Ms. Trotta could provide the number of sexual counselors available to military personnel, both state-side and overseas.


Finally, I would like to address the quote that the issue is "“women once more, the feminist, going, wanting to be warriors and victims at the same time.”  Sexual Assault Survivors, yes, SURVIVORS, are both warriors and victims.  They have been victimized, but they often choose to become warriors, survivors, fighters, champions, overcoming adversity that few can understand.




A host for Fox News, Eric Shawn, tried to talk Trotta down a bit. “You certainly want the people fighting the war to be protected from anything that could be illegal,” he said. But Trotta wouldn’t have it. “Nice try Eric,” she said, “This whole question of women in the military has not been aired properly, and it’s the great sleeping giant.”


Here is an another article that includes a clip.





 

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