Northern Colorado Gazette

by Peter Grady –

A military watchdog organization says recent reports reveal that sexual assaults and crimes have increased dramatically over the past few years in the US military.

The Center for Military Readiness (CMR) recently released a policy analysis quoting statistics from several military sources that reveal, among other things, the fact that cases of sexual assault have increased by 22 percent since 2007, and violent sex crimes in the Army have nearly doubled since 2006. According to The Washington Times, it also reveals a “chilling trend” of sex crimes growing at a rate of nearly 15 percent a year and accelerating.

More disturbingly, Donnelly points out that following the repeal of the Revolutionary War ban on homosexuals serving openly in the military, sexual assaults on males has now gone up.

“Advocates of the repeal assured us that allowing homosexuals to be open about their lifestyle would have no effect on unit readiness. However, the evidence shows that the repeal has definitely had an effect on the military, male assault victims have increased significantly,” she said.

While it is easy to think that the issue is confined to the lower ranks, Donnelly points out that the senior ranks have serious issues as well, particularly in the Navy.

“The Navy has had to fire ship captains, executive officers [and] senior enlisted officers at rates approaching two per month for the last two years, most often for reasons of sexual misconduct,” Donnelly details. “There is no effective strategy for reversing this trend.”

The obvious solution for such a drastic increase in sexual assaults would be to reconsider the social policies that are known to increase these disturbing disciplinary problems. But instead, the military appears to prefer using politically correct solutions that simply do not work.

While the repeal of the ban on homosexuals has led to the increase in sexual assaults on males, studies have shown that often men are unlikely to report sexual assault or advances made against them by other men. Among the reasons for not reporting incidents is the fear of being homophobic for being repulsed by an advance and a perception that others may question their sexuality.

Among the key reasons for sexual assaults on women are recent policies that are placing the women closer and closer to the front line which places them in more intimate situations than in a garrison setting.

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