Truman National Security Project: What Senior Leaders Get Wrong on Military Sexual Assault
Kayla Williams, a former sergeant and Arabic linguist in a Military Intelligence company of the 101st Airborne Division writes for the Truman National Security Project:
Victim-blaming is narrowly avoided. Many believe that victims who have been drinking and/or put themselves into “dangerous situations” bear part of the blame. When I ask if someone who buys an expensive car should expect it to be broken into, a common response is, “If you park an expensive car in the ‘hood, you shouldn’t be surprised if the rims are stolen.” When I push back by asking, “Should young women who are expected to trust their male comrades with their lives in battle not trust these same men to not rape them if they go out for a couple beers when they return home?” many seem to genuinely not have considered this aspect.
Senior leaders are disconnected from young troops. Many older men I have spoken to either do not know or have only very recently learned the meaning of common terminology used by young troops, such as “tea-bagging” (in which one man places his testicles on another man’s face) and “money shot” (ejaculating on a woman’s face). Based on this, senior leaders could literally hear troops discussing sexual harassment right in front of them and not recognize it.
