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In maart 2007
zal het navolgende werk over seksueel
misbruik in het Amerikaanse leger verschijnen. De auteur hoopt dat het
boek voor opleidings-
en voorlichtingsdoeleinden gebruikt zal worden en zodoende in de toekomst
een preventieve functie zou kunnen vervullen. Aangezien dit jaar ook gevallen van seksueel misbruik bij de Nederlandse
marine bekend zijn geworden, zou dit boek ook een waardevolle aanwinst kunnen
zijn voor ons Ministerie van Defensie en haar onderwijsinstituten.
De Nederlandse
vertaling van een gedeelte van de
onderstaande tekst treft u op onze pagina AANKONDIGINGEN aan.
WALKING WOUNDED
Sexual Abuse In The
American Military
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De cover van dit boek is nog in de maak…
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Dr. Mic
Hunter
Licensed Psychologist,
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
Barricade
Books
March 2007
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I n h o u d s o p g a v e
Section I
Chapter One
Common Motivations For Enlisting In The Military
Chapter Two
Characteristics Of Military Culture
Chapter Three
The Code Of Hyper-Masculinity Or “A Band Of Brothers”
Chapter Four
Hazing
Chapter Five
Prostitution: The Necessary
Evil?
Chapter Six
The Acceptance Of Domestic Violence
Chapter Seven
Women In The Military
Chapter Eight
Homophobia In The Military
Chapter Nine
Victim/Offender Training Prior To Military Service:
Characteristics Found Both In Incest/Physical Abuse Families
And In The Military
Chapter Ten
Sexual Harassment Or “Can’t Ya Take A Joke?”
Chapter Eleven
Sexual Assault As A Weapon In War
Chapter Twelve
The Incidence of Sexual Assault
Chapter Thirteen
The Effects Of Sexual Assault
Chapter Fourteen
Factors That Affect The Impact of Sexual Abuse / Secondary Victimization
Chapter Fifteen
The Offender Mentality
Chapter Sixteen
How Does All This Impact The Military?
Chapter Seventeen
Can The Military Change?
Section II
Personal
Stories
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Introduction
Unacknowledged Casualties
For the past several
years, when I told friends and colleagues I was working on a book on sexual
abuse in the military, many of them expressed surprise. "Surely
that must be extremely rare." They, like many, assumed that
since they did not hear of sexual abuse taking place in the military, it
didn’t exist. They believed that a highly-structured and disciplined
organization such as the military would not tolerate such behavior.
Furthermore, in books on the
history of the military, sexual abuse is rarely mentioned. For example,
Major General Jeanne Holm, who once was the
highest-ranking woman ever to serve in the U.S. armed forces, wrote a
544-page book on women in the military. Its index does not contain
the words abuse, harassment, rape, or sexual assault. Likewise,
General Tommy Franks, the Commander in Chief of U.S. Central Command, published
a 536-page book in 2004
in which these issues were not mentioned.
I am familiar with such reactions. I faced
similar responses in the late 1980s when I was writing about the sexual
abuse of males. In those days most people thought this was also a
rare phenomenon. Yet today, not many years later, we know that the
sexual abuse of boys is widespread, and just as damaging as the sexual
abuse of girls.
Those who thought that the sexual abuse of boys was nearly non-existent
turned out to be wrong. This situation is identical with sexual abuse
in the military.
This abuse, unfortunately, is quite common; it has existed since the
beginning of military history, and continues today. When a group of
female veterans were asked about their experiences during deployment in the
Gulf War sixty-six percent of them reported verbal sexual harassment,
thirty-three percent stated they had been physically sexually harassed, and
twenty-three percent that they had been sexually assaulted.
Unfortunately, as you are reading this, somewhere a member of the U.S.
military is being sexually assaulted, harassed, or mistreated.
Only now are people—including
high-ranking people within the military—beginning to wake up to the reality
of sexual abuse, and to the conditions that engender it. In fact, in
August of 2005, the Pentagon issued a report citing big problems at its
Army and Navy academies. According to this report, hostile attitudes
toward women and their mistreatment persist in both academies, and both
have cultures that devalue the role of women in uniform. “When women
are devalued,” the report states, “the likelihood of harassing and even
abusive behavior increases.” The authors of
this report—a panel of 12 military officers and civilian experts on sexual
abuse—urged wide-ranging reforms, from rewriting military rape laws to
creating better protections for victims who speak with medical personnel or
victims’ advocates about sexual misconduct. It is my hope that this
book will help to hasten this slow awakening.
In Walking Wounded I have restricted
myself to the U.S. military not because sexual abuse does not exist in
other fighting forces—for It surely does—but because sexual abuse is a
complex-enough subject without having to also deal with issues of culture
and language. Much of what I have written certainly applies to the
militaries of other countries as well. For example, consider our
geographically and culturally close neighbor, Canada.
A 1998 Ottawa Citizen article on the Canadian military described
“widespread tolerance and sometimes encouragement of an atmosphere of
abusive, hateful treatment of women” in which "harassment is
common.” This article revealed the "systematic mishandling
of sexual assault cases; investigations were perfunctory, the victims were
not believed. and often they—not the
perpetrators—were punished by senior officers who looked the other way or
actively tried to impede investigations.”
History has shown us that
soldiers—including, often, American soldiers—can be noble, dignified, and
self-sacrificing, even when engaged in wars that are petty and
disgraceful. But some soldiers are capable of behaviors
towards their comrades that violate the oaths they have taken, and that
bring dishonor on themselves, the military, and
the countries they serve.
My intention in Walking
Wounded is to bring attention to this previously-taboo subject; to
point out how the military has successfully responded to other
psychological problems; and to encourage military leaders to make the
American military a safer place for those who defend our country.
This book includes several first-hand accounts of sexual abuse suffered by U.S.
military personnel. When I let it be known that I was seeking these
personal stories, the first questions I was often asked were, "Are you
a veteran? Have you ever served in the military?" When I
disclosed that I have never been in uniform, I worried that people would
decline to take part in the project and dismiss me with a comment such as,
"Well, if you've never been a part of the military, then you wouldn't
understand." Instead I was shocked to hear this common response:
"Oh good. I was afraid you would be military, and you wouldn't believe
me."
The personal stories included in
Section 2 of this book are in the words of those persons who lived through
abusive experiences and, in many cases, continue to suffer from their
effects. These people are brave and strong. They deserve our
respect. They agreed to serve their country and were betrayed by
their comrades. I hope this book helps to heal their wounds, and
prevents others from suffering the same pain.
I expect to be criticized by
some as being disloyal, or as undermining the morale of our military by
publishing this material. As Judith Herman noted some years ago,
“Those who stand with the victim will inevitably face the perpetrator’s
unmasked fury.” But I stand behind what I have written and simply wish
to pose this question: What could be more supportive of our fighting women
and men than exposing the forces that permit their mistreatment?
Dr. Mic
Hunter
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The Stories
Annie D. – “It seems like I am living with a walking dead
man.”
The spouse of a survivor of gang rape
(Raymond) describes the difficulty of living with a man damaged by abuse, and
her frustration at the way the Veterans Administration has responded to his
requests for help.
Dean- “The idea of being
dominated goes against my whole image of a masculine male. I was beyond
disgraced.”
Gang raped and forced to watch his
buddy being assaulted he went on to struggle with his sexual identity and
alcohol and other drug abuse.
Photo of Captain Mackey
Dorothy H. Mackey- “I made a commit to myself, and God, to do
something about the abuse. I decided to speak up until I was heard.”
Sexually abused by two
physicians, sexually assaulted by a comrade, and
sexually harassed by two superior officers she became suicidal. But she fought back and took
her complains all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gloria J. Williams- “Once I told them I had been drinking that
night they suddenly shifted the way they had been treating me. Now it was as
if I ‘deserved it.’"
Sexually assaulted by a civilian
while she was enlisted. She suffered with anxiety, depression, and
nightmares. She attempted to cope with alcohol, but that only added to her
problems.
Photo of Private Helle
Gregory-
“I felt a weakness had caused this and being weak was not an option.
I could not face my buds if they were to find out.”
Sexually assaulted by a comrade
while in a combat zone. He learned to trust nobody. He
faith in God was shattered. He feared he was a homosexual. He suffered with
nightmares and panic attacks. He thought of suicide.
Violated-A survivor’s poem
Jon-
“They were laughing and told me, ‘to get used to not being in
control.’”
Repeated sexually assaulted by
both prisoners and guards while in the brig. As a result he questioned
his masculinity and his sexual orientation. He became sexually compulsive.
Lynda-
“I was unable to tell anyone about what happened because I was afraid I
would be blamed for what happened.”
She was accused of being a lesbian and threatened with disfigurement by
racists. She was sexually harassed by
both male and female superiors, and gang raped to the point of developing
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. She was hospitalized numerous times and engaged in self-mutiliation.
She was so overwhelmed by her symptoms her husband divorced her and she gave
up custody of her children.
Emancipation –A survivor’s poem
Paula-
“I felt very alone and afraid all the time. I wondered if my peers
noticed my behavior and if anyone suspected what
was going on, but I was too afraid of his revenge to confide in anyone.”
Long-term sexual abuse by a
superior she had herself sterilized so she wouldn’t get pregnant from
him. She became depressed and suffered with overwhelming anxiety and
nightmares. She developed a drinking problem and obsessive/compulsive
disorder. She finally obtained help from the Veterans Administration.
Rachel-
“All too often, I am transformed into an unidentified being, full of
explosive, uncontained rage. In the aftermath, I am emotionally spent, psychologically
imprisoned behind stone cold, impenetrable walls.”
Sexually abused as a child by her stepfather then sexually abused by a series of military superiors she is confused
and guilty about what role she played in the events.
Raymond D. (spouse of Annie)– “…reporting
it would have caused even more harm. The military would have branded me. I
chose to remain quiet.”
Abused as a child he is twice gang
raped in the military. These events lead him to years of alcohol abuse
and failed marriages.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Mic Hunter currently holds Minnesota licenses as a Psychologist,
and Marriage and Family Therapist. In the past he has been licensed and
internationally certified as an Alcohol & Drug Counselor.
His educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in psychology from Macalester College, a Master of Arts degree in Human
Development from St. Mary's College, a Master of Science degree in
Education/Psychological Services from the University of Wisconsin,
and a Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology from the Minnesota School of
Professional Psychology. He has completed both the Chemical Dependency and
Family Intimacy Training Program, and the Alcohol and Drug Counselor Education Program at the University of Minnesota,
and the Two-year Post-graduate Program at the Gestalt Institute of the Twin
Cities.
Prior to opening his practice in St.
Paul, Minnesota, Dr. Hunter
was employed in several chemical dependency treatment programs and mental
health centers in Minnesota. Along with Peter Dimock and Jim Struve, he was
a founding member of Shunomi Creek Consultants, a
professional training organization.
He has held the rank of Adjunct Program Associate
Professor in both the Human Development and the Education and Educational
Administration Departments of Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.
Dr. Hunter has spoken hundred of times throughout North America to both professional audiences and the
general public. He has presented the Annual Meetings of the American
Association Of Sex Educators, Counselors and
Therapists, the Society for the Scientific Study of Sex, American
Psychological Association and the American Orthopsychiatric
Association. He has presented at all of the national conferences on male
sexual abuse survivors, including giving three keynote addresses. He has
been sought out by the print and broadcast media for interviews over one
hundred times, including CNN, The New York Times, and The Oprah
Winfrey Show.
He has served as a reviewer for The Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, The
Journal of Interpersonal Violence, The Journal of Men's Studies, Treating
Abuse Today, and Violence Against Women, and Sexual Addiction
and Compulsivity. He was a Board
Member of The National Organization On Male Sexual Victimization,
served as the Editor of organization's newsletter, and sat on the
Scientific and Administrative Advisory Committee. In 1999 he received The
Fay Honey Knopp Memorial Award National
Organization on Male Sexual Victimization, "For recognition of his
contributions to the field of male sexual victimization treatment and
knowledge."
In
addition to articles, Mic is the editor of The
Sexually Abused Male, Volume I: Prevalence, Impact and Treatment
and Volume II: Application of Treatment Strategies, Child
Survivors and Perpetrators of Sexual Abuse: Treatment Innovations, and Adult
Survivors of Sexual Abuse: Treatment Innovations.
He is the
author of Abused Boys: The Neglected Victims of Sexual Abuse,
The First Step for People in Relationships with Sex Addicts, When
Someone You Love Is Addicted To Sex, Joyous Sexuality: Healing From
Family Sexual Dysfunction, and The Twelve Steps and Shame. His most recent project was
co-authoring with Jim Struve,
The Ethical
Use of Touch in Psychotherapy.
For 15 years his hobby was creating a photographic documentary focusing on
the disappearance of the traditional male barbershop that was published as The
American Barbershop: A Closer Look at a Disappearing Place. His current
photography project is Vacationing With The Dead, which documents
the disappearing details of historic tombstones due to the effects of
weather and acid rain.
Dr. Mic Hunter
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Op 20 april 2006
besteedde NOVA aandacht aan het thema
‘Seksuele
intimidatie bij de Marine’
Red. MdH, 9 juli 2006
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