It's not about SEX. It's about POWER.
That single statement is probably the most striking thing I heard at NFTT's panel on Military Sexual Trauma and I can't even remember who said it. We had two great panelists, Ann Wright, former Colonel in the active and reserve Army and outspoken advocate for those suffering from MST, and Elizabeth Stinson, a Licensed Family and Marriage Therapist who works with MST survivors. We were also joined via Skype by MST survivor, Tia Christopher. Joan Brooker was our gracious host and kept the panel moving, even when our Skype connection failed us multiple times.
I already knew that rape wasn't about sex. I can remember as a confused, young teen, I went to my mom to ask how on earth someone could be raped. I was taught that sex was something that happened between two people who loved each other so the concept of rape made no sense at all. My mom explained it to me and I was shocked. But not like the shock I felt after learning so many of the horror stories that are taking place in the military.
So I knew that rape wasn't about sex. I think most women already know that. But I hadn't realized how much it was about POWER, especially for those in the military. You see, it's not always your same-ranked colleague who commits sexual harassment or sexual assault; it's often your supervisor or your commanding officer; it's someone who you have been trained to trust completely; it's someone who already holds power within the military system and they take this essential trust and they desecrate it.
Even if the person who commits sexual assault isn't higher up in your chain of command, the decision on whether to investigate or to prosecute is held within the chain of command. Power at work once again. Before learning so much about MST, I wanted to believe that the power held by those commanders was worthy of our trust. But the numbers show something different. According to SAPRO's 2010 annual report, there were 3,158 reports of military sexual assault in FY2010. Of those reports, only 529 resulted in court-martial. Granted, we can't expect all cases to be court-martial worthy, but the numbers are incredibly small. Even more interesting are the reasons why some court-martial cases cannot be completed:
Read those again using your POWER lens - who determined whether there was insufficient evidence? Why might a victim decline to participate in a military justice action? I am beginning to understand why Col. Wright and Ms. Stinson are asking for civilian oversight. When it is the system in place that has already made it possible for the harassment or assault to take place, how can you trust that same system to follow through on an investigation?
I have to admit that the panel on Military Sexual Trauma was not my first choice to attend. Like many others, I was attracted to the panel on Citizens United with Senator Whitehouse. But as a newly-minted board member of NFTT and a military wife, I did feel somewhat of an obligation to attend. Let's face it - most of us don't want to hear about trauma of any kind. We don't chose to spend our free time listening to stories that we know will make us cringe. We don't want to hear that the community in which we live is broken. Facing that was my first challenge. It meant overcoming my sense of privilege. My next challenge is to convince more of you to join me in the conversation.
Tomorrow, The Invisible War opens in four cities - Washington DC, New York City, San Francisco, and Santa Monica. If you can attend any of these openings, please do. I will be attending the 7:20pm showing at the E Street Theatre in Washington DC with my husband and some friends. You are welcome to join me.
In the meantime, join me in the comments below. I don't pretend to know everything about this topic but I certainly know who to ask if I don't have the answers. The NFTT panel did a great job and I can always turn to them! Thanks to Joan for the planning, to Elizabeth and Ann for the great discussion, and to Tia for sharing her story!