The US Military’s Rape Culture
What becomes clear from report after report about sexual assault in the US military is a consistent narrative of concealment, cover-up, and punishment of victims. Meaningful change requires reestablishing the rules and the code of honor that have protected soldiers – and the armed forces’ legitimacy and prestige – for generations.
NEW YORK – Around the world, people’s understanding of why rape happens usually takes one of two forms. Either it is like lightning, striking some unlucky woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time (an isolated, mysterious event, caused by some individual man’s sudden psychopathology), or it is “explained” by some seductive transgression by the victim (the wrong dress, a misplaced smile).