A female soldier in a combat zone is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire, according to statistics. Rape in the military has reached epidemic levels. This year alone over 26,000 sexual assaults have occurred in the U.S. Military alone. Pictured here: Young female Marines in boot camp at Paris Island under go combat training 2013.
On November 18, 2013 Senator Barbara Mikulsko of Maryland asked for and was granted permission to address the United States Senate for a few minutes regarding sexual assault and rape in the U.S. Military.
“There are 26,000 reasons why we are on the floor today. Mr. President, 26,000 sexual assaults have occurred in our U.S. military this past year.”
“Then we look at the service academies training the future leaders–15 attacks at the Naval Academy, 15 attacks at West Point, and over 50 attacks at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Now is the time to do something, to do something bold, to do something strong and something unequivocal, something victims can have confidence in, where the accused can feel the process will be fair and we restore the confidence in the U.S. military to stop this and to deal with their own”, she said.
“I am proud of the leadership taken by the women in the Senate and the women on the Armed Services Committee. There are now seven women on the Armed Services Committee–five Democrats and two Republicans. Wow, do they work on a bipartisan basis with the leadership of the committee. We appreciate the work of the fine men who have supported us in dealing with this issue”, said Senator Mikulski M(source: Congressional Record http://thomas.loc.gov).
See related video: Invisible war – rape in the military https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za8cY_zd9Qw
See also: Non Battle scars: US military rape victims share their pain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkjWzDWCYhk