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Hi folks,
This is an amazing victory! When this same guy was in the U.S. Army and raping women soldiers, the Army basically backed him. But this local police dept. apparently is smaller and less resistant to pressure. Thank you to everyone who helped out here! Perhaps this raises an interesting possibility. Our campaigns often take on huge targets, like stopping the Iraq war. We need to do so, of course. But maybe even once in awhile, it would be good (both for our morale and for immediate results) to occasionally take on much smaller targets, such as one criminal individual. Such smaller campaigns would send a clear message to right wing criminals everywhere: "Don't mess with the peace movement, or we'll bust ya!"
yours in peace,
MLester is FIRED!
Today is
National Stop Rape in the Military day so it is appropriate that I send
you this now. One of the saddest realities I faced when my daughter joined the U.S. Army was that sexual abuse is an epidemic in our military. Both of my grandfathers were in the military, one being a Colonel and the other was a Sergeant, and both were good men. I heard the statistics, but thought I had raised a tough daughter, she could deal with anything they threw at her. I had no idea how many perpetrators and sex offenders lurk and hide in our military. I did not realize was that one out of every three women and one out of every five men in the U.S. Military are sexually assaulted. I still feel shocked by these numbers. And even worse is that it is rare that the perpetrator is prosecuted for the crime of rape/sexual assault.
There
are some fundamental changes that need to change so that people can
serve in our armed forces without fear of being sexually assaulted by
their own fellow soldiers. One is hold the command responsible for any
type of complaints that are generated. This means independent
investigations into any type of complaint is absolutely crucial. All the
policies and procedures and task forces in the world won't help if the
command is able to choose which one to enforce. Informing young people
before they sign away their rights about the statistics of rape in the
military should be mandated. Informed and honest recruiting needs to be
upheld and not a joke.
Sara
Rich, M.S.W. and proud mom of Spc. Suzanne Swift FACT CHECK: MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA Last year alone, almost 3,000 soldiers reported sexual assault and rape by other soldiers. 27% of men have experienced military sexual trauma
60% of
women have experienced military sexual trauma |