Sexual Assault

Sexual Assaults in Military Boot Camps

History of sexual assaults in boot camp

Sexual assault is a broad term than rape where it means that the victim can face anything from sexual harassment to a forcible rape. The person who commits such crimes is called rapist. The term perpetrator includes the labeling of all types of sexual offences. Sexual assaults in military boot camps date back to as much back we can go. The military boot camps refer to the military, air force and the naval forces. There have been many allegations in the past where the men especially the instructors have been accused and blamed to rape or sexual assault female trainees and recruits (Murdoch, 2012).

One of the most highlighted scandals in the past has been the allegation on instructors of Lackland Air Force Base in Texas. About a dozen male boot-camp instructors were accused of sexually assaulted, harassed or raped 31 victims who were female recruits under their command. All the female victims were identified and Air Force Training Program faced a huge problem. In Lackland Air Force Base, about 36,000 trainees are recruited every year. The complaint started from a female in June, 2011 where she complained against the instructor for the charge of sexual assaulting (Murdoch, 2012). There were about 3,191 military sexual assaults reported in 2011 by Defense Department.

The charges imposed on the instructors range from the rape, to improper sexual relations with the trainees and female recruits. One of the instructors was charged with 90 day imprisonment, demotion and 30 day labor when he was accused of having a plea deal with ten of his trainees. He has also agreed to give a testimonial against two other instructors who were involved in the crime (Murdoch, 2012).

The worst event of sexual assault occurred in Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland in 1996. About twelve male soldiers were blamed to have abused female trainees and recruits. Aggressive investigation has been taken against the soldiers in multiple units for the determination of the harassment against female recruits. The main requirement is realized to change the selection criteria of the male instructors (Murdoch, 2012).

It has been stated by Anu Bhagwati that boot camp is a rich environment for targeted for abuse. The environment terrifies the victim where she is being yelled 24-7. The victims are often confused who to call for help after being attacked. She is a former Marine officer and currently she is the executive director of the Service Women's Action Network (Murdoch, 2012).

There is a need to hire more female instructors where the Air Force female recruits comprise of 22% and female instructors in Air Force comprise of 11% (Murdoch, 2012). The most difficult thing for a female victim is to report the abuse. Reporting abuse means struggling to prove one right and punishing the culprit. Last year in 2011, armed services reported 3,200 incidences of sexual assault. According to Pentagon, there have been around 19,000 real incidents (Murdoch, ...