Posted on 05/08/2013 6:48:32 PM PDT by markomalley
United States Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel ordered a mandatory inspection Tuesday of all international military offices and workplaces in a bid to rid them of any material that fosters a sexually aggressive or generally hostile work environment.
The examinations will mirror an Air Force search last year that forced troops to remove any inappropriate photos, calendars, periodicals, screen-savers or computer content from their desks and cubicles, according to the Military Times. The decision to scrub content that’s degrading to women comes after the officer in charge of the Air Force’s sexual assault program, Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, was charged with sexual battery for allegedly groping a woman in a parking lot.
Air Force lawyers asked to have the case transferred to the military justice system but were rebuffed by prosecutors who wanted to keep the case under their own jurisdiction in Arlington County, Virginia.
Every branch of the military will be subjected to the searches, which are expected to be completed by July 1. Hagel also released new figures from the Defense Department indicating an average of 70 troops every day endure some type of sexual harassment. Of the approximately 26,000 active-duty service members, one in every 50 experiences “unwanted sexual contact” each day.
“We need a cultural change where every service member is treated with dignity and respect,” Hagel said. “This department may be nearing a stage where the frequency of [sexual assault] and the perception that there is tolerance of it could very well undermine our ability to effectively carry out the mission and to recruit and retain the good people we need.”
The Pentagon’s estimate shows that the number of troops who are victimized has increased by 35 per cent since 2010, USA Today reported, from 19,300 to 26,000 (including both men and women). That evidence doesn’t account for the number of unreported – or ignored – instances. Of the estimated 26,000 assaults, less than 3,400 victims reported the incident.
US President Barack Obama, following Krusinski’s arrest, demanded that any military member found guilty of sexual assault be fired and prosecuted.
“I don’t want just more speeches or awareness programs or training, or ultimately folks look the other way,” Obama said. “We’re going to have to not just step up our game, we have to exponentially step up our game and go after this hard.”
Along with searching troops’ working quarters, Hagel said the military would work to reduce the stigma for victims of reporting sexual assault, hold offenders accountable, and enhance sexual abuse prevention programs.
But Congressional leaders were dumbfounded that these practices hadn’t already been entrenched in military culture. Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) admonished Air Force Secretary Michael Donley on Krusinski’s case during a conference with the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.
“If the man in charge for the Air Force in preventing sexual assault is being alleged to have committed a sexual assault this weekend, obviously there’s a failing in training and understanding of what sexual assault is, and how corrosive and damaging it is to good order and discipline and how it is undermining the credibility of the greatest military force in the world,” she said.
Oh, and before somebody says something, regarding the sentence, Of the approximately 26,000 active-duty service members, one in every 50 experiences “unwanted sexual contact” each day, I have no idea where the Russkies get that there are only 26,000 active duty service members.
The military used to care about rust. Now it's just all about sensitivity.
The Russian, Chinese and Jihadi armies must be laughing so hard.
It’s just like guns...
We don’t like these school shootings....
They are caused by guns. We know this because we know this.
Ban guns. We know all about them and nobody needs them, plus the perverts who own them cannot be trusted. We know better.
The Taliban is indeed in the building.
For fairness, what about degrading materials about men?
Oh, for crying out loud, what is this?
Single men, far from home and all alone with only each other for company, and the administration’s all in a tizzy about a few pinups?
What ON EARTH is this country coming to?????
Poof*
sarc/
Okay, now I’m hoping that this post will result in the sharing of “degrading” materials (only in good taste though).
Kind of like the gratuitous eye bleach ones, which are such welcome distractions.
Women Who Wear Revealing Dresses Cause Earthquakes: Cleric (Tehran)
05/05/2013 1:12:47 PM PDT · by DogByte6RER · 60 replies
One India News ^ | Saturday, May 4, 2013 | Shubham Ghosh
Women who wear revealing dresses cause earthquakes: Cleric Tehran, May 4: Women who wear revealing clothing and behave immorally are responsible for earthquakes, this is what a senior Iranian cleric has to say. The cleric’s unusual explanation for quakes follows the prediction made by the country’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that a quake is certain to rock Tehran and many of its 12 million inhabitants should relocate to save their lives. Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi told the country’s media that women who do not dress in dignified manner “lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society”. According to...
Well, the good news is that the DOD doesn’t have any more pressing issues at the moment. This is their biggest problem!
/sarc
Trust Hegel to know what he likes eh!
You mean like this WWI Aircraft Nose Art? http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=wwi+noseart+images&qpvt=wwi+noseart+images&FORM=IGRE
I’d fight for those gals!
Our Fathers Did!
Just think...my Army drill sergeant would be court-martialed today for trying to get me to relax during our end-of-basic skills testing....he got a Playboy magazine and opened up the centerfold and yelled “hey...relax”.
Yes, I relaxed, and passed my skills test.
There are a lot of us (and not just on Free Republic) who have long looked at this attempt by liberals to integrate women into the military, and could see this coming.
As far as I’m concerned, one single second spent doing sensitivity training of any kind or tracking down harassment issues that takes away from mission training is an abomination.
It is sad that I have to come out and say “I am not advocating sexual harassment” but these are young people for the most part between the ages of 17 and 25 for the majority of them, and to expect to throw them together and pretend that there is no such thing as male and female sexuality is just completely, stupidly… Liberal.
Maybe we could add some hanging plants and mandate everyone take a culinary art class.
It doesn’t sort out MonM or FonF, or even FonM, from MonF , so there’s an implicit sexism in the interpretation of the numbers.They tie themselves up in knots with their illogic. Krusinski could probably save himself by showing up to work in a flirty dress and brunette wig like that ABC producer did yesterday.
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