Free Report Sample on Military Sexual Assault: A Call for Action to Combat Prevalence

Introduction

The prevalence of sexual assault in the military has been in existence for a long time. However, due to the attitude that men can only be perpetrators, lack of reporting, and patriarchal military culture, it is difficult to recognize the assaults' existence. There is a desperate need to consider sexual harassment as a peculiar military crime and cooperate with the department of defense through the creation of policies or other institutions' involvement in finding solutions to the existing problems. The military culture is to blame for the existence of sexual assault since it encourages aggression and physical dominance against other service members of lower ranks. Sexual assault has been cited as a significant cause of mental health problems, especially when the victim is physically attacked. Sexual assault among military service members has been enhanced by stereotypes regarding how men ought to behave, feel, and react to specific situations. Sexual assault training and military culture and values should be inculcated on the minds of trainers and recruits to end the problem.

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Need for Policy Change on the Topic

The military culture encourages sexual assault as a way of orienting recruits to the military life. Additionally, the culture encourages members to hide their suffering and pain and instead keep up appearances to show dominance. The culture, thus ends up suppressing the human need for assurance of love. Therefore, the soldiers suffer and remain in silence while hiding the real suffering from the surface. Also, the military service is based on bureaucracies. When soldiers experience a problem, they are required to follow a protocol of ranks when reporting. In most cases, the perpetrator is not apprehended if he/she is a senior ranking officer. Thus, there is a need for policy changes to ensure that justice is administered to the military men who suffer from sexual assault.

Policy Alternatives

Military laws that have been put in place to address sexual assault have been unsuccessful. The officers concerned with sexual assault issues in the military service should look for alternative procedures to end the problem. One alternative way is to provide sexual assault training and address such harassment when they occur. Also, there is a need to change the military culture where aggression and dominance reign. Alternatively, social groups should be formed to bring together victims of sexual assault where they can discuss and share ideas and find solutions for their struggles.

Challenges Associated with Policy Changes

Most of the sexual assault victims in the military do not report due to embarrassment and stigmatization. Most military service members are afraid to speak about their vulnerability, although people are curious about what is happening in the department of justice. Also, there exists a small difference between newly enlisted service members with a leadership position and those with the E-4 level. Thus, many people fear to report sexual assaults because of consequences such as demotion or even interjections. Such challenges make the implementation of the proposed policy changes problematic.

Conclusion

The military should take legal actions against sexual offenders and separate them from the service. The military service should provide psychological help to sexual assault victims to relieve them of other health challenges. A new training program should be rolled out to educate the recruits and trainers on the required professionalism in the military service. Additionally, the congress and the department of justice should show their efforts in preventing military sexual assaults by creating and supporting relevant policies. All military officers found guilty of sexual assault should be discontinued from the service. Moreover, the congress should put legislation actions into action through the National Defence Authorization Act to promote the response to the military sexual assaults.