Tag Archive for "Military"

Posts Tagged Military

Women at Australian Defence Force Academy treated as “game,” inquiry finds

Regular readers know I’ve been following the story about women cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy for some time now. This April, ADFA became embroiled in scandal when one cadet had consensual sex with another, then filmed and broadcast the encounter to a group of other cadets via Skype without her consent.

In the aftermath of the incident, a dozens of cadets and former cadets alleged that they had been victims of sexual harassment, assault and abuse at ADFA and in the Australian Defence Force. One outcome was an in-depth inquiry into the culture of the ADF and its schools, with particular attention paid to the treatment of women.

Last week, Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick revealed the ...

By Eesha Pandit • 12 years ago

To serve and protect: Increasing number of homeless female vets

Every few weeks a story breaks into the news about homeless veterans. As though our collective consciousness can’t really handle a frequency much greater than that. This week, it’s a story of Kenya Smith, who served in the Navy for 14 years. Smith lost her home to foreclosure recently and joins the 14% of the population in the US that is unemployed.

A former lieutenant and medical service corps officer, Kenya Smith first enlisted right after college. She earned two master’s degrees, deployed to Iraq and worked in healthcare and administration. She thought this experience would benefit her upon her re-entry into civilian life. As it turns out, it did not.

“I ran projects. I was an HR manager. ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

Australian Army opens combat positions to women

Yesterday, the Australian Army announced that it will become the third army in the world to allow women to fight in combat positions. The policy change is expected to be implemented within five years. The change is especially notable because it’s apparently the last thing standing between Australia and complete adherence to the UN convention on discrimination against women.

Defence Force officials are also hoping that allowing women to serve in more positions will result in an increase in the number of women in leadership positions. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, women make up 18.5% of the Australian Defence Force but just 4.5% of the senior ranks across the army, navy and air force. The SMH reports:

a ...

By Chloe Angyal • 12 years ago

Yet another sexual violence scandal at the Australian Defence Force Academy

Earlier this year, as you might recall, a scandal broke at the Australian Defence Force Academy: several male cadets were disciplined for filming a consensual sex act between two of their peers and distributing, without the consent of the woman in question, via Skype.

Today news broke of yet another sexual assault or harassment scandal at the ADFA, and this one involves technology, too. The Herald Sun reported today that “ACT Police were called to the academy late on Thursday night after a 21-year-old female cadet found a mobile phone hidden in a vent above her shower cubicle. The phone’s video camera had been filming her.”

The Australian reported that the cadet has been charged with “an act of ...

By Samhita • 12 years ago

Navy to disallow on base same-sex weddings.

Due to pressure from Republican lawmakers the Navy is set to reverse it’s decision on allowing military chaplains to officiate same-sex marriages on navy bases.

via the Advocate.

In an April 13 memo on “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal training, Rear Adm. Mark L. Tidd, Chief of Navy Chaplains, clarified that base facilities are “sexual orientation neutral,” and that chaplains may perform marriages for gay couples “if it is conducted in accordance with the laws of a state which permits same-sex marriage[.]” Chaplains could elect to officiate should a ceremony be “consistent with the tenets of his or her religious organization.”

But Tidd reversed course late Tuesday, writing that his guidance is suspended pending “additional legal and policy review and inter-Departmental ...

Due to pressure from Republican lawmakers the Navy is set to reverse it’s decision on allowing military chaplains to officiate same-sex marriages on navy bases.

via the Advocate.

In an April 13 memo on “don’t ask, don’t ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Skype scandal reveals a decades-old rape culture in Australia’s military

**Trigger warning**

The Australian Defence Force Academy has been in the headlines in the last week, after an 18-year-old woman cadet went to the press with claims that she had been filmed without her consent having sex with a fellow cadet, and that the footage had been broadcast to several other male cadets at the Academy via Skype. When “Kate” complained to her superiors, her case was ignored, so she went public. She was then disciplined for breaking the Academy’s rules about fraternizing, and the rule about talking to the press.

The Skype scandal has brought many other stories out of the woodwork; evidently, “Kate” is not the only person who experienced sexual violence at ADFA. On Saturday, The Australian published

**Trigger warning**

By Maya Dusenbery • 13 years ago

Sexual assault of men in the military

Newsweek has an important story about the sexual assault of men in the service.

“What happened to Jeloudov is a part of life in the armed forces that hardly anyone talks about: male-on-male sexual assault. In the staunchly traditional military culture, it’s an ugly secret, kept hidden by layers of personal shame and official denial. Last year nearly 50,000 male veterans screened positive for “military sexual trauma” at the Department of Veterans Affairs, up from just over 30,000 in 2003. For the victims, the experience is a special kind of hell—a soldier can’t just quit his job to get away from his abusers. But now, as the Pentagon has begun to acknowledge the rampant ...

Newsweek has an important story about the sexual assault of men in the service.

“What happened to Jeloudov is a part of life in the armed forces that hardly anyone talks about: male-on-male sexual assault. In the ...

By Chloe Angyal • 13 years ago

Aussie Defence Minister speaks out against sexual harassment at defence academy

OK, so here’s what happened. Two people had consensual sex, and one of them, without the other’s knowledge, filmed the encounter, then distributed the video to a bunch of his friends.

Those two people happen to be cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Unsurprisingly, when “Kate,” the young woman who was filmed without her knowledge or consent, went to her superiors at the academy, she didn’t get a whole lot of sympathy from him. It appears that the ADFA Commandant Kate approached offered her no counseling or other form of support and Kate, suspecting that the incident would be covered up, went public.

The ADFA has a rule about “fraternizing,” and about talking to the media, and Kate broke both those ...

OK, so here’s what happened. Two people had consensual sex, and one of them, without the other’s knowledge, filmed the encounter, then distributed the video to a bunch of his friends.

Those two people happen to be cadets ...