"The Invisible War," a feature-length documentary about sexual assault in the military, is up for an Oscar Sunday night. Directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering, it is a searing, infuriating, unforgettable film.
At its core are 35 former sailors and soldiers who courageously describe on camera the rapes and other sexual assaults they endured in the military — and the military's fundamental indifference and even hostility. Every victim deals with deep emotional scars that will never go away.
The most heart-wrenching story is that of Kori Cioca, who was raped by a superior while a Coast Guard seaman. The same man also hit her in the face so hard he dislocated her jaw. It was never treated. Today, she can only eat foods like Jell-O and mashed potatoes. She fights with her husband over issues of intimacy, a direct consequence of being raped. She holds out hope that Veterans Affairs will put her on disability — but after months of waiting, she is denied.
About two-thirds of the way through "The Invisible War," Dick and Ziering turn to the military's response to sexual assaults. They interview Kaye Whitley, then the director of the Defense Department's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, who comes across as bumbling and out of touch. And they mock a poster campaign meant to increase awareness around issues of sexual assault.
The military acknowledges that sexual assaults are a huge problem; Dick and Ziering cite Defense Department studies showing that one in five female veterans is sexually abused during her service.
But the filmmakers have done both the Defense Department and their own viewers a disservice by being so dismissive of the military's response. If the military was once indifferent, it isn't anymore. Anu Bhagwati, the executive director of Service Women's Action Network — and a fierce victim advocate in "The Invisible War" — told me that the Defense Department "is definitely taking this seriously. After Afghanistan, combating sexual assault is probably its highest priority."
In fact, the military is clearly determined to change a culture that once condoned rape. Sexual crimes are every bit as frequent on university campuses, but universities, by and large, are still reluctant to tackle the problem openly.
Although the Defense Department first set up an office to combat sexual assaults in 2005, only in the last few years has that effort gained real momentum. Military leaders have held summit meetings that included the most renowned specialists in the field, many of whom have been engaged to set up programs. You can't go to basic training now without learning that sexual assaults are no longer tolerated.
One program that the military has embraced is "bystander intervention." Its purpose is not just to teach sailors and soldiers how to intervene when social situations become potentially dangerous. "We can also use the process to teach the dynamics of sexual assault," said Jeffrey O'Brien, the director of Mentors in Violence Prevention. "It is meant to address the climate of the base."
When I mentioned bystander intervention to Ziering, she could not have been more contemptuous. "Bystander intervention?" she scoffed. "Rapists are going to find a way." But her contempt is misplaced. At the Naval Station Great Lakes, a large base in Illinois, bystander intervention, along with other strategies — including posters — have been in place for almost two years. The data show that the incidence of sexual assaults has dropped 73 percent compared with the previous two years, according to Jill Loftus, who leads the Navy's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.
The hard part for the Navy — and the other branches, which are all running similar programs — will be taking what has worked at Great Lakes and applying it to every American facility in the world. That is no easy task for an organization as complex and sprawling as the military. But the military has done this before. It integrated its forces with far less trauma than the larger society. Drinking and driving was once a common facet of military life. Now it is a career-ender. The military has shown it can change.
And there's one more reason to have hope. With a surprising lack of defensiveness, the military has embraced "The Invisible War." Thanks in part to the film, said Maj. Gen. Gary Patton, who leads the Defense Department's efforts to end sexual assaults, "when we hear the voices of the victims, we listen."
His words have the ring of truth.
•
In my column on Tuesday, I described the strategy of anti-Keystone XL pipeline activists as boneheaded. In writing about the effect of a carbon tax on Canada's tar sands oil, I was pretty boneheaded myself. I said such a tax would likely make tar sands oil more viable. But, obviously, it would do the opposite, by decreasing demand for oil and making the already expensive tar sands oil even less economically appealing. What was I thinking?
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Op-Ed Columnist: This War Is No Longer Invisible
Dengan url
http://opinimasyarakota.blogspot.com/2013/02/op-ed-columnist-this-war-is-no-longer.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Op-Ed Columnist: This War Is No Longer Invisible
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Op-Ed Columnist: This War Is No Longer Invisible
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar