Esquire: Where We Fail on Rape and Sexual Assault in the Military
Lt. Col. Robert Bateman is an infantryman, historian and prolific writer. Bateman was a Military Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and has taught Military History at the U.S. Military Academy. He wrote this piece for Esquire Magazine:
“We are doing it wrong. We are failing, not just our fellow soldiers, but our entire nation. And we are failing because we have not been suspicious, we have not been vigilant, and we have not been angry enough. Well here it is now: It is time to face the enemy again. This time it is not on the battlefields of Iraq or Afghanistan, it is much closer to home.”
While Lt. Col. Bateman’s piece does not mention this, it’s also important to recognize that the violent crime of rape is about power and abuse of authority. According to Pentagon surveys, 53% of victims are male.
