Skip to content
Deacon Keith Fournier Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Shocking report reveals 38 men, 33 women are raped each day in the military

Free World Class Education
FREE Catholic Classes
Men report less often than women.

Rape in the military may be happening more frequently to men than women. According to Pentagon estimates, 13,900 of the 1.2 million men on active duty endured sexual assaults versus 12,100 of the 203,000 women on duty.

Highlights

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
5/17/2013 (1 decade ago)

Published in U.S.

Keywords: Military, rape, women, men, service, reporting

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - While women suffer far more proportionally than men do, in numerical terms the majority of sexual assaults in the military involve male victims. This may surprise some given all the attention that is being given to the issue of women assaulted in the military.

To be clear, the assault of women in uniform is a serious and significant issue. It would be a major issue if even one single woman were victimized. However, it is worth nothing that men also suffer sexual assault while serving in uniform.

While women are now viewed as victims and survivors, men remain closeted about their assaults. Women have been encouraged to come forward, but the same culture that discourages women from reporting also works ever more powerfully against men.

Brian Lewis is a rape survivor who was assaulted on a Navy ship in 2000 had this to say to NBC news:

"As a culture, we've somewhat moved past the idea that a female wanted this trauma to occur, but we haven't moved past that for male survivors.  In a lot of areas of the military, men are still viewed as having wanted it or of being homosexual. That's not correct at all. It's a crime of power and control.

"But also, you're instantly viewed as a liar and a troublemaker (when a man reports a sex crime), and there's the notion that you have abandoned your shipmates, that you took a crap all over your shipmates, that you misconstrued their horseplay," he added.

As legislators consider tougher policies to protect women serving in the military, male rape survivors are coming forward to ask for additional protections too. They want to remind legislators that men are often victims too.

Of all the rapes reported in the military, 38 per day are men and 33 are women. Both numbers are shocking. Unfortunately, there's no real understanding of the epidemic of rape in the military because the crime so often goes unreported. The actual prevalence of sexual assault in the military is probably much higher.

No victim should fear retaliation from fellow compatriots and superiors, however, this is the dominant culture in the military.

It is a powerful disincentive for both men and women who might otherwise wish to serve in the military.

So far, the Department of Defense has established a 24/7 "safe helpline" to provide support for anonymous victims. The DoD says the staff has also been trained to assist male victims.

It's not enough. Male victims, according to the Pentagon report, are even more likely to keep silent about assaults than women.

Military service is inherently hazardous. United States service personnel have enough enemies that they should not have to fear enemies within their own ranks. We owe them much better protection, both women and men.

---


'Help Give every Student and Teacher FREE resources for a world-class Moral Catholic Education'


Copyright 2021 - Distributed by Catholic Online

Deacon Keith Fournier Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you. Help Now >

Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.

Lent logo
Saint of the Day logo
Light Your Free Payer Candle for a departed loved one

What is Palm Sunday?

Live on March 20, 2024 @ 10am PDT

Catholic Online Logo

Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.

Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.