COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: Women
Panel: Academies Should Address Behavior
Associated Press
August 26, 2005
WASHINGTON
- Hostile attitudes and inappropriate treatment of women persist at the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point and at the Naval Academy, a
Pentagon task force says.
The panel called for better training of future officers at the
academies, saying the value of women in the military should be better
emphasized. It said present training regarding sexual harassment and
assault issues is inadequate, resulting in misunderstandings by cadets
and midshipmen about how to obtain medical care, counseling and legal
assistance.
"The sexual harassment and assault training programs at both academies
are not effective in conveying key concepts," the task force said in a
report issued Thursday. The study's authors included several military
officers and experts on sexual harassment and assault issues.
The "Report of the Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Violence
and the Military Service Academies" is the latest to deal with sexual
issues and cultural attitudes at those academies after a scandal at the
Air Force Academy surfaced in January 2003.
Other studies have focused on the Air Force Academy, and its leadership
has been replaced. But Congress also requested a look at the U.S.
Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.
The new study credited both academies with making progress in
addressing some sexual harassment and assault issues, particularly in
improving services to victims. But it called for putting more women in
leadership roles at the two academies and said more women should be
admitted as cadets and midshipmen.
"Some research shows that a 'critical mass' can make a difference in
creating an environment that has a markedly positive effect on the
acceptance and integration of women in a mostly male community,
resulting in decreased incidence of sexual harassment and assault," the
report said. "Admissions standards and service needs should not be
compromised in this effort."
Women comprise 15 percent to 17 percent of the students at each academy.
The task force said harassment at the academies included jokes and
offensive stories of sexual exploits, derogatory terms for women,
offensive gestures, repeated, unwanted propositions for dates or sex,
and offering to trade academic favors - like a positive evaluation -
for sexual acts.
Delilah Rumburg, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition
Against Rape and a co-chairwoman of the task force, blamed many of the
problems on the sexually permissive civilian culture that produces the
high school graduates who become cadets and midshipmen. Vice Adm.
Gerald Hoewing, the chief of naval personnel and the co-chairman, said
cadets and midshipmen have a hard time when those values run up against
the gung-ho, yet disciplined, military culture.
The task force also called for new military law aimed at protecting the
confidentiality of cadets and midshipmen who are victims of sexual
misconduct when they speak with medical personnel or victims' advocates.
Task force members also said allegations of sexual misconduct were only rarely prosecuted to the maximum extent.
In March, the military released results of surveys at all three
military academies. Women at the academies reported they have faced
some 300 incidents of sexual assault since they enrolled, a figure the
military says is comparable to civilian schools.
More than 50 percent of female respondents and 11 percent of male
respondents indicated experiencing some type of sexual harassment since
entering the schools, according to those surveys, which were conducted
by the Pentagon's inspector general.
Last year, nearly 150 women came forward with accusations that they had
been sexually assaulted by fellow cadets at the Air Force Academy
between 1993 and 2003. Many alleged they were punished, ignored or
ostracized by commanders for speaking out.
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