Do you think women of military recruiting age....

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

Poll question: Do you think women of military recruiting age....

should stop enlisting and refuse to serve until meaningful steps are taken to address the longstanding abuse/mistreatment of females in the U.S. military?

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Misogyny Rampant in the Armed Forces: 1 in 3 Military Women Experience Sexual Abuse

By Nancy Van Ness

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/85099/

----snip----

After 26 years in the U.S. Army/Army Reserves, Ann went on to serve in the U.S. Diplomatic Corps for fifteen years, receiving the State Department's Award for Heroism in 1997. She helped open the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in January 2002 and then was Deputy Chief of Mission in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. But in 2003 she resigned from the Diplomatic Corps, saying, "I have served my country for almost thirty years in the some of the most isolated and dangerous parts of the world. However, I do not believe in the policies of this Administration," referring to the invasion of Iraq. Since then, she has advocated tirelessly for peace.

She described first hand accounts from witnesses and seeing photographs that document an atrocious rape that ended in the murder of a female US soldier in Iraq, which the military had reported as a suicide. She pointed out that even in the handful of cases resulting in court martial and conviction, few perpetrators have served any prison time.

Two other young veterans, Kelly Dougherty and Jen Hogg, described life in the military for women today.

Sgt. Kelly Dougherty, now Executive Director of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and former chair of its Board of Directors, told of a veteran who calmly described killing an Iraqi while she breast-fed her baby. To Kelly, this was just one example of the incredible disconnect veterans live with and of the brutalization that everyone in the armed forces is subjected to. She noted, however, that this is new for women, since for the first time in US history so many women are participating in combat situations. . . .

[marmar]

1. I think everyone of recruiting age should stop enlisting....

.... until wars-of-choice based on lies are halted.

[sam sarrha]

2. abuse like this,

not exactly what I'd call supporting the troops.. allowing tis despicable situation to continue

http://www.vermontguardian.com/dailies/022006/020806.shtml

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

6. That article should be read by every...

...woman considering enlisting in the U.S. military. Thanks for the link.

[stillcool]

3. I think there should be a warning label...

on any recruiting office entrance, that there is a 1 in 3 chance that a woman will be a victim of sexual abuse. And that they will have no recourse. They will be required to suffer in silence, because they chose to serve their country.

[JerseygirlCT]

4. Honestly, I don't think *anyone* in their right mind should enlist now

Risk their lives in an immoral and pointless war, receive horrifying treatment at the hands of the US gov't, and not even be paid decently for it? What a crap deal.

But allowing outright crimes against women... it does make you think it's all something cooked up by the boys' club to use against women being treated equally in the armed forces, doesn't it?

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

5. It does seem like something they...

...turn a blind eye toward intentionally -- been going on for a long time.