U.S. military men sexually assault one-third of fellow female soldiers
Three years ago, an American soldier LaVena Johnson of Missouri bought candy, soda and lip balm one night near her base in Iraq. She went to meet friends to go jogging. But she never made it — her body was found the next day in a burning tent with a broken nose, black eye, and some corrosive liquid applied to her genital area. An M-16 rifle was found next to her and a gunshot through her mouth. Though the bullet was never found, the Army considers it a suicide. Her family believes it was homicide at the hands of male American soldiers.
The Oct. 15 issue of Our Weekly, a Los Angeles weekly newspaper, reports on Johnson’s death, whether the military is attempting to pass it as a suicide, the increasing numbers of abuse, rape and murder on military bases and the military’s systematic refusal to prevent them.
In July, CNN reported on a House committee hearing on sexual abuse within the military. Forty-one percent of female veterans at an L.A. veteran’s hospital reported male soldiers had sexually assaulted them, and 29 percent were raped, said Rep. Jane Harman (D-Cali.) to the committee. “We have an epidemic here,” Harman said. “Women serving in the U.S. military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.”
CNN reported the Government Accountability Office investigated sexual assaults in the military and the Coast Guard and found the “occurrences of sexual assault may be exceeding the rates being reported.”
One-third of women veterans say they were sexually assaulted while in the military, writes executive director and founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Paul Rickhoff in the Huffington Post, citing a study by the American Journal of Industrial Medicine. Fifteen percent of female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have gone to the VA for care have screened positive for Military Sexual Trauma.
In the past, some have blamed male soldiers’ interest in seeking out prostitutes or assault of fellow female soldiers as their succumbing to the need to “blow off steam.” But because rape and assault really center around power and patriarchy, and not any kind of true sexual feeling, this “steam” really is an aggressive display of misogyny and dominance, a sick comfort in an environment that must feel lacking control, purpose or meaning.
And what else? What does this say about our military if sexual assault is so deeply ingrained, so deeply accepted that officials continue to make up age-old, caveman excuses for it rather than evolve and put a stop to it? Or of the mainstream media, which has hardly reported these numbers or asked these questions at all? Or of society, where men continue to rape 1 out of 6 women and sexually assault women every two minutes?
Tags: Afghanistan, assault, Give Peace a Vote, Iraq, men, military, rape, violence, war, women
July 18th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
LaVena Johnson (In Memorial) Where Is The Justice?
Just when you think you’ve heard it all,
Another name is slammed into a brick wall,
LaVena Johnson an Army Private First Class,
Is she the first? Certainly this PFC isn’t the last.
Is it any wonder Osama Bin Laden can’t be found?
With a criminal loose in our camp running around,
Destroying evidence, burning bodies, again & again,
Calling themselves soldiers, claiming they are men.
What a shame when the real enemy is on the same side,
Behind the color of camaraderie these cowards hide,
Punched in the face, loose teeth, she was only 5 feet 1,
The Army claims its suicide, that’s all, over and done.
How many before shooting themselves bust their own lip,
Severe enough to the point it needs more than one stitch,
Surprisingly they didn’t say she tried to saw herself in half,
Which lie would be easier to swallow? You do the math.
So, how did that chemical burn get on her private parts?
Oh yeah, maybe a tattoo, some kind of new wave art,
Why would someone waste time getting rid of DNA?
Just maybe without detection they’re free to get away.
Being right handed, she shot herself in the left side of the head,
Moved her body from 1 place to another “after” she was dead,
From the size of the exit wound when the trigger was released,
There was no breath left because she was immediately deceased.
The U.S. Army actually tried lying, hooray for her dad,
He gave that crap the smell test and oh did it smell bad,
7/19/05 her dead body found in a contractor’s tent, KBR,
Broken nose, black eye, shot in the head and body scars.
Military personnel or civilians aren’t we on the same side?
Who is the American Government protecting, why that lie?
Had to be someone with pull to get her alone, you’d think,
I don’t have to be standing next to skunk to know it stinks.
Where’s is the ACLU, what happened to the mighty NAACP?
She could not have been more violated, do you not agree?
A 19-year-old honor student should be shown more respect,
But, this is how she’s being treated. Hey! What the heck?
Can’t call it racial because all women are treated the same,
Even academies and bases in the states there is this claim,
We are truly near the end of days soon God will work it out,
Vengeance will certainly be more than a punch in the mouth.
The Uniform Code Of Military Justice aka the U.C.M.J.,
But, where is this promise for LaVena, her assailant got away,
Judging by the condition of her remains, she put up a fight,
Now John and Linda Johnson are paving the road to right.
Funny thing though, seems they have a roadblock in Iraq,
It’s from the U.S. Army, who supposedly has their back,
The saying, “with friends like these who needs enemies?”
Guess the Army thinks first the perpetrator said, “please?”
Here’s a little something to me that is simply down right scary,
The hole in her head was from a pistol, which she did not carry,
Oh yeah, if you think that’s something how does this fact sound?
The fatal bullet that went through her head was never even found.
If there ever was this kind of incompetence in World War II,
Adolph Hitler or his off spring would be telling us what to do,
Oops, I don’t mean us because there’d be no Blacks or Jews,
And only if the Furor liked Mexican food maybe a Hispanic or 2.
Whomever, wherever, whatever, an injustice did occur,
We can’t make it right for others without justice for her,
Hey, White House, the most powerful office in the world,
Do you have the gonads to speak out for this Johnson girl?
A petition was signed that is over twelve thousand strong,
The Army closed the case anyway saying nothing’s wrong,
Nothing like U.S. Intelligence, it’s the reason for the attack,
If they hadn’t been storing WMD’s we wouldn’t be in Iraq.
I saw something on the Internet much sadder than sad,
Her mom distraught, shedding tears, clutching her dad,
Soldiers carrying LaVena’s body almost made me mad,
Draped over her lifeless casket was an American flag.
Apparently the stars and stripes blows in two directions,
There is one for neglect, another for promised protection,
As it laid over her body on that particular sun filled day,
Was it 1 of protection or 1 allowing the perp to get away?
Beware this incident is not about colors, Black or White,
Remember it’s a statement in the arena of wrong vs. right,
I wonder if her recruiter bothered to make LaVena aware,
The same injustice suffered here is also allowed over there.
And here’s a timeless saying, which is entering my mind,
There’s even a movie with the title, “Behind Enemy Lines,”
Now that the light is shining on a lie that 3 years rang true,
Who will step in & accomplish what the enemy refused to do?
For every ranking Army official who signed off on this case,
Nothing less than a court martial is what each 1 should face,
Upon their conviction exactly where should they have to go?
What about life in a cell behind barb wire fences at Gitmo.
BTW, this isn’t the end of this kind story, not in the least,
The sad tale of a 21 year old from Texas, PFC Tina Priest,
After her “suicide” another soldier through his own neglect,
Guilty! Being in the quarters of a member of the opposite sex.
Like priest who joined the church to freely molest little boys,
Sexual predators join the armed forces for their perverted joys,
The biggest question still remains will something ever be done?
Wining the internal war protecting our daughters from our sons.
Update! From March 15,2009 here is some very disturbing news,
This is from a Pentagon Report and it’s disturbingly so very true,
There’s an 8% jump from sexual assaults reported last year 2008,
Rising to 26% in war zones while 89% of the culprits get to skate.
Yes, because only 11% of reported cases will ever make it to a trial,
How many are actually convicted? The DOD doesn’t know (smile,)
So, exactly what are these women doing after shedding their tears?
Sadly, they are looking at the other side and their own through fear.
LaVena, 7/19/2009 is the 4-year anniversary of your death,
And the case is still unsolved? Well, don’t not hold your breath,
Michael Jackson dies, everybody who is anybody shows,
Savagely beaten, raped, murdered and still nobody knows?
Oops! I’m very sorry, I meant to say that “they” are aware,
In actuality the problem is that “they” obviously don’t care,
Those who stood up for justice with Jena 6 where are “they?”
Hey! Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson what do you have to say?
Or any so-called Black Leader for that matter, what’s going on?
Television, radio, Internet, news media, your voice is so strong,
Even the SPCA when it came to Michael Vick, raised holy hell,
But the true story of LaVena Johnson, no one has the guts to tell?
by Luke Easter