***STATEMENT*** Protect Our Defenders Responds to DoD Investigation of Secret Marine Facebook Page
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2017
***STATEMENT***
PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS RESPONDS TO DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INVESTIGATION OF ABUSIVE AND MISOGYNISTIC MARINE FACEBOOK PAGE
Washington, D.C. – On Saturday, it was reported that the Department of Defense (DoD) “is investigating scores of enlisted marines for compiling thousands of naked photos of service women, often surreptitiously, and distributing them through Facebook and Google Drive.” The photos along with profane and abusive comments were discovered on the Facebook group, “Marines United” which claims to have 30,000 followers.
Nude and explicit photos of servicewomen were posted to the group along with obscene comments sometimes calling for rape of the women. On many occasions the women were identified by name and military branch. Many of the offensive comments were by members whose Facebook accounts brazenly included their names, ranks and duty stations.
Col. Don Christensen (ret.), the former Chief Prosecutor of the United State Air Force and President of Protect Our Defenders, released the following statement:
“There is a serious cultural problem when Marines refer to fellow warriors in such hateful terms and trade explicit photos of female Marines like baseball cards. The degradation of women who have volunteered to serve their country is simply unacceptable and calls for swift and severe accountability.
“Congresswoman Jackie Speier warned the Marine Corps of similar misogynistic social media sites four years ago yet nothing was done to stop the practice. The leadership that has failed to act over the the last four years must also be held accountable for their dereliction of duty.”
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Washington Post: ‘I’m never reenlisting.’ Marine Corps rocked by nude-photo scandal
Reveal News: Hundreds of Marines investigated for sharing photos of naked colleagues
NPR: Marine Corps Finds It Tough To Shut Down Sexist Facebook Groups
About Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders (POD) is a human rights organization. We are the only national organization solely dedicated to addressing the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military and to combating a culture of pervasive sexual harassment and retribution against victims. We honor, support and give voice to survivors of military sexual assault – including both service members and civilians assaulted by members of the military. We seek reform to ensure all survivors have access to a fair, impartially administered system of justice. Learn more about Protect Our Defenders at www.protectourdefenders.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ProtectOurDefenders or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ProtectRDfnders.
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