Uprooting - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Uprooting the Culture of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces through a Gender Aware Perspective

By Cheryl

AbbateSlide2

AgendaStatement of the Problem

Diagnosis of the Problem

Solution to the ProblemSlide3

Part 1: The ProblemSlide4

The Problem26,300 (approx)

occurred in 2012

in the

military (

up 34.5% from 2010)

Only

3,000 (approx.) were reported

Only 300 (approx). were prosecuted; there is a .9% conviction rate

23-28% of women will be sexually assaulted while serving their country (this is twice as high as the civilian sector); 11% will be

raped

53% of these crimes were MALE on MALE assaults

Only 14% of victims who report their assaults are males

**Source: SAPRO 2012 Annual ReportSlide5

So, No….Sexual assault in the military is not:A result of “confusion about consent”

A result of “out of control hormones”

A crime that happens after someone has too much to drink

A woman’s issue; it’s not about the “damsel in distress” Slide6

There is still a misperception that this is a women's issue and women's crime. It's disheartening that we have such a differential between the genders and how they are choosing to report

.

Nate

Galbreath

, the senior executive adviser for the Pentagon's sexual assault prevention office.Slide7

Proposed Solutions

Sexual

Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) 2013 Strategic Plan:

Bystander Intervention

Victim Reporting

Holding Commanders more accountable

Punishing wrongdoing

Victim Support

Pentagon:

August

2013 Memorandum from Secretary of Defense Chuck

Hagel

:

improved victim legal support

expansion of victim rights

enhancing protections

enhancing

pretrial investigation

ensuring investigative quality

Congress:

Military

Justice Improvement Act (Senator

Kirsten

Gillibrand

)

Put the authority to investigate and prosecute sexual assault crimes into the hands of

qualified legal experts

with legal training. Slide8

Inadequacies of the Proposed SolutionsOnly addresses

what has happened after assault has occurred (

response

), rather than sexual assault

prevention

.

We

need

a

reevaluation of military

culture

in addition to

structural changes

/criminal justice reform. Slide9

Part II: A Proper Diagnosis of the Problem Slide10

What we need….We need to take seriously the psychological and sociological research that has been conducted on gender, specifically masculinity, and how masculinity is connected to sexual violence and other anti-social activities

…..we need a

Gender Aware Perspective

(Christopher

Kilmartin

)Slide11

A note about Gender and SexMale Vs FemaleMan vs

Woman/ Masculinity

vs

Femininity Slide12

Hypermasculinity/ Militarized Masculinities Obsession with bodily strength

Homophobia

Obsession with power

Obsession with domination

Disdain for the emotions

Disdain for the feminine Slide13

My FocusA critical reflection of the of the

hypermasculine

culture of the military, which is connected with a desire to dominate “feminine others” through aggressive and violent means.

Hypermasculinity

= a recipe for sexual assault Slide14

Hypermasculinity and ViceSlide15

Bodily Strength and DominationStoicismDominating one’s bodily weaknesses

Physical exertion, lack of sleep, and exposure to climate variation

Performance of physically grueling activities regardless of exhaustion, pain, or injury

Pain is weakness leaving the bodySlide16

Dehumanization and DominanceDominating one’s emotions; disabling one’s empathetic responses to killing others

Soldiers are formed into individuals who are able and willing to kill other human beings in order to protect the nation

Mechanisms of moral disengagement

“Target acquisition”

Derogatory names such as “gook” “zit” “towel-head” and “faggot” Slide17

Violence and DominanceDesire to dominate others through aggression and violence

Basic Training Traditions

“What makes the green grass grow?”

“Blood, blood! Blood makes the green grass grow! Kill

kill

kill

!”

Cadences that glorify killing and violence

Bodies Bleeding Bodies:

Load another magazine, in my trusty M16.

Cuz

all I ever

wanna

see is bodies, bleeding bodies.

Throw another hand grenade!

Should have seen the mess I made.

Cuz

all I ever

wanna

see is bodies, broken bodies.

Stab

em

with the bayonet!

If he squirms you're not done yet!

Cuz

all I ever

wanna

see is bodies, cut-up bodies.Slide18

Violent CadencesCaptain Jack:

I’m

gonna

be a

killin

’ man

A

cuttin

’ man

A

shootin

’ man

A

stabbin

’ man

The best I can

For uncle Sam.

Down by the River:

Down by the river; took a little walk; ran into the enemy; we had a little talk;

I didn’t like their attitude; didn’t like the way they walked;

So I pushed ‘

em

; I shoved ‘

em

; I threw them in the river; laughed as they drowned.Slide19

Power and DominanceMilitary’s Hierarchical structureTop-down authoritarian structure which fosters a master/slave dynamic between subordinate soldiers and superiors who have unlimited authority that subordinates must accept without question

Unquestioning obedience

Absolute authoritySlide20

Conclusion: Militarized MasculinitiesThe “military virtues” which are assumed to be necessary for effective fighting are the following:

Stoicism; non-femininity

Emotional detachment

Power

Domination through violence and aggressionSlide21

Consequences of Military MasculinitiesDisdain for the feminine

Those who are not real “men” should submit to the power and demands of the truly masculine.

A sense of entitlement

Soldiers are indoctrinated with the same lesson that motivates sexual aggressors: a

real

man has power and control, a

real

man dominates; a

real

man is on top.

A sense of inferiority or frustrationSlide22

How is this related to sexual assault?

Institutions, like the military, that endorse masculine norms are found to have higher rates of sexual assault and harassment than other organizations (

Gutek

1985; Gruber 1997)

Sexual violence is usually motivated by violence and a desire to conquer and control the victim (

Groth

1979; Hunter 2007, 19;

Kilmartin

2005)

Hypermasculinity

= a recipe for sexual assault (and other anti-social activities) Slide23

The psychological thesisSexual assault is often a response to a feeling of

powerless

: society has defined a “real man” in such a masculine way that certain males hit a wall of despair trying to achieve this masculine identity without success

Men attempt to overcome their

inadequacies

and express their masculinity through means of sexual aggression:

finally they are able to control at least one thing in their life, namely, their sexual conquestsSlide24

Psychological Thesis, ContinuedWhen soldiers are unable to live up to the often unobtainable hyper-masculine ideals of military combat soldiers, they experience a sense of

masculine inadequacy and anger

This response is inevitable when we consider the typical attitudes of men to

constraining environments

, such as the military which is authoritarian in nature: with such a rigid structure, subordinates are prone to foster anti-social behavior in order to protest such a constraining environment

Sexual aggressors, then, are often

insecure

, men who are motivated by a desire to dominate or exert power over another being (male or female!)Slide25

Restatement of the problemCan we train Soldiers to be effective killers without indoctrinating in them vicious,

hypermasculine

character which gives rise to a culture of rape and sexual violence?Slide26

Is there a dichotomy? Effective fighters, with a culture of sexual violenceIneffective fighters, without a culture of sexual violenceSlide27

Part 3: Possible SolutionsSlide28

Solution 1: A philosophy of killing

Martial arts

(Aikido), with a focus on the meditative component, into military training.

Such training will help soldiers remain

less aggressive and violent,

humble, and in touch with their emotions, thus countering

hypermasculine

tendencies of aggression, violence, domination, and power seeking.

Allows individuals to “

vent negative emotions in a healthy

way, lest they are otherwise repressed and later manifest in even darker ways” (

Haffner

& Vogel 2010, 148). Slide29

Aikido: A Philosophy of KillingSelf Defense“No first strike”

Techniques to counter someone else’s initiation of violence by blending the motion of the opponent and redirecting the force of the attack

Neutralizers the attacker without using strength;

abandons the idea of fighting with “brute force

”

Emphasizes “

soft techniques-

the art of blending with an attacker’s vital energy, redirecting that energy in order to harmonize with it and so render it harmless” (

Raposa

2003, 10-11).Slide30

Lessons from AikidoWe should eliminate fighting techniques that are excessively violent

and destructive

We should avoid violence and to approach conflict with

minimal force

We should control violence

We should use

violence only as a last resort

, thereby preventing him from initiating demands for dominance or an act of aggression, like sexual violence, in the first place.Slide31

Solution 2Can we soldiers be trained to kill without cultivating hypermasculinity

?

Are there ways to effectively conduct military operations that do not require military personnel to foster anti-social traits?Slide32

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)Unmanned systems, unlike soldiers who fight in ground combat, are

immune to frustration, boredom, and anger which makes unethical conduct less likely

(Lin,

Bekey

, Abney 2008)

Arkin

(2009: 30): combat soldiers often act on emotions such as anger, fear, frustration and revenge which often causes them to disregard military regulation and the laws of war. ….the use of emotionless UAVs might, in fact, eliminate the atrocities that stem from unraveling emotions caused by the

direct experience of killing others

under the condition that they lessen civilian casualties and save livesSlide33

Questions?

Cheryl.abbate@marquette.eduSlide34

A Final Word About Victim Blaming"We have to fight the cultural stigmas that discourage reporting and be clear that sexual assault does not occur because a victim is weak, but rather because an offender disregards our values and the law,"

Hagel

said.