Book tells of female U.S. soldiers raped by comrades »
Posted By bruhaha 8 months, 1 week ago in News
Female U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan have more to fear than roadside bombs or enemy ambushes. They also are at risk of being raped or sexually assaulted by fellow soldiers.
"The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq," a book based on 40 in-depth interviews, recounts the stories of female veterans who served in combat zones and tells of rape, sexual assault and harassment by male counterparts.
Some were warned by officers not to go to the latrine by themselves. One began carrying a knife in case she was attacked by comrades. Others said they felt discouraged to report assaults.
"The horror of it is that it is their own side that is doing this to them," said the book's author, Helen Benedict, a journalism professor at Columbia University in New York. The book was released in the United States on Wednesday.
One in 10 U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are female, and more women have fought and died in the Iraq war than any since World War Two, according to U.S. Department of Defense statistics cited in the book.
Benedict said the book's title comes from the isolation female U.S. soldiers experience when combining the trauma of their combat duties with sexual harassment by fellow soldiers.
Read Full Story at reuters.com »
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bruhaha
Geologist at an environmental consulting and engineering company here in the Chicago suburbs.
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Endoscopy8 months, 1 week ago
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This was one of the reasons that originally there was objection to Women serving side by side with men in combat zones. NOW put down the idea but now it is happening. Combat zone puts men under a lot of stress. The urge to procreate increases. Some men give in to the urge and this is the result. In the navy the women come back to port many time pregnant. This is usually consensual though. The sex drive is powerful under normal circumstances but shipboard and combat zone put that up several notches.
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canadianrancher578 months, 1 week ago
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Endo I argee with much of your comment and am glad you put in the part about consensual , but this is about rape and sexual harassment . People who are fighting in a combat zone are under alot of pressure but are expected to follow the orders of their superiors and if you don't well theres hell to pay, so if men can follow orders about the rules of war, and most do, why can't they follow rules in regards to the opposite sex and rape or sexual harassment. Consensual is one thing rape is another.
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wtagg8 months, 1 week ago
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You're absolutely correct. Women shouldn't be in high stress places with men. That is exactly why they shouldn't be allowed to work, be in public, go to school, and should be required to wear a burka.
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Your comment speaks volumes about you.
You seem to feel that it is ok for a man (or woman) to act like an animal with no responsibility. If a person cannot control this small part of themselves, they certainly should not have any part in our national security.
Accountability and responsibility. -
PsychoHosebeastComment removed: Spammer, Abusive
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Dionys8 months, 1 week ago
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"This was one of the reasons that originally there was objection to Women serving side by side with men in combat zones. NOW put down the idea but now it is happening. Combat zone puts men under a lot of stress. The urge to procreate increases. Some men give in to the urge and this is the result. In the navy the women come back to port many time pregnant. This is usually consensual though. The sex drive is powerful under normal circumstances but shipboard and combat zone put that up several notches."
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You're justifying the rape of women by their fellow soldiers?
It's the woman's fault for serving her country that she was raped?
You're worse than disgusting.
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calitennflo8 months, 1 week ago
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I recall the newspapers accounting for a 19 year old's flee from Iraq, due to attempted rape...she later turned herself in and they sent her right back to the same command, etc. The last I heard, was she got a lawyer via her mother who had earlier hid her...and that's about it.
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Terrible... -
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earthlingerer8 months, 1 week ago
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This isn't just happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's also happening in such horrible places such as Texas, California, and Georgia.
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It's worth mentioning that other countries that have had women in the military for a long time, such as Russia and Britain, don't have anywhere near such a problem as US forces have.
While the story mentions only that this is being done by "soldiers", talking to women who have served reveals that these crimes often have racial motivations. -
PsychoHosebeastComment removed: Spammer, Abusive
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