Krusinski: Hero or Hypocrite?

The man in the  picture above is Lt. Col Jeffery Krusinski who is the head of the Air Force SAPRO ( Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office) program. On Sunday, Krusinski was arrested for sexually assaulting a woman while intoxication. In a time where the Pentagon is trying to reduce the number of sexual assaults in the military, it's not a good look for them to have this incident happen. For a chief of a program who's aim is to prevent sexual assaults to be arrested, he is a disgrace to himself and our country.

In a recent article in the Huffington Post, sexual assaults happened at an average of 70 times per day in the US military in 2012. It seems as though with all these assaults that are happening with the military that there needs to be more done to prevent this. Lt. Col Krusinski should be made an example of because of his actions. This man is paid to help prevent sexual assaults but in turn is caught in one himself. Its good to know that with more and more of these cases are getting exposed that maybe our military won't feel the need to cover them up.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/07/military-sexual-assaults-2012_n_3230248.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-lt-col-jeff-krusinski-arrested-for-sexual-battery-2013-5

Pfc. LaVena Johnson

In my first post, I mentioned Pfc. LaVena Johnson, who died away in 2005 at the age of nineteen and her death was ruled a suicide. The autopsy performed on her revealed wounds that were inconsistent with suicide but showed sign of chemical burns that were meant to destroy evidence of rape. Think about this young solider, I decide to look up some more information on her. I stumbled on a website on her and browsed through it. The site hasn't been updated in a while but I really enjoy looking it through and learning more about her. In the "About" section of the website, her father, Dr. John H. Johnson, wrote a biography of her life and it was very heartwarming to read. Also, there is a trailer for a documentary about tells the story of LaVena's life called " The Silent Truth". Here is the trailer: 

Browsing the website, for me, gave a face for the fight against sexual abuse and females in the military.

http://lavenajohnson.com/

Sex Abuse and Female Soldiers

I came across this video of A report that Katie Couric did back in March 2009 about sexual abuse and female soldiers. In the beginning of the interview, a former female soldier, Jessica, shared her story and it was very horrific to hear. Her squad leader try to force himself on her and someone she knew from another military base raped her. At point she said ".. figure out how to turn the guy and become one of the guys..." Its disturbing to hear that w person who is fighting for her country has to be afraid being attacked by her officers and even her fellow soldiers.

Katie Couric also mentions in the article that the Pentagon started a program in 2006 to track sexual assaults because Congress ordered them to do it. For the the fact that the Pentagon didn't want to find out about these attacks and had to to be forced by Congress is sad to hear. It seems as though they would rather turn a blind eye on the sexual assaults happening. A good thing that I learned about from the video is that the Army came up with a program called " I. A.M. Strong". This is how the website describes the program:

What is I. A.M. STRONG?

Intervene, Act, and Motivate  (I. A.M.) STRONG is the Army’s campaign to combat sexual assaults by engaging all Soldiers in preventing sexual assaults before they occur.

Grounded by our shared belief in the Army Values, we are a band of brothers and sisters, placing mission first, never accepting defeat, never quitting and never leaving a fallen comrade.   Our interdependence and shared respect among comrades frames who we are as a Team and an Army - a Team that finds sexual assault reprehensible and beyond toleration.   Those who commit assaults hurt a member of our Team and wound our Army.    This criminal act is cowardly and damaging to the very moral fiber that gives our Army its innermost strength.

As Soldiers and proud members of our Team, we are duty bound to Intervene, Act, and Motivate others to stop sexual assaults and the sexually offensive language and gestures that create an environment friendly to this abuse.

It's wonderful to see that they are taking the necessary steps to reduce the number of sexual attacks happen. This comes to show that they are starting to listen to these female soldiers.

Statistics on Female Military Sexual Contact

Hey all!

I was browsing around and I found these statistics about female military and unwanted sexual contact.

Being a woman, it was crazy for me to see that 9 out 10 of female Marines experienced unwanted sexual conduct. Another statistic that bother me was that 41 percent of women in the military experienced an attempt in sexual intercourse. This issue seems to be a growing concern in this country and not enough people know about.

More reports on sexual abuse

In an article from usatoday.com, it was reported in a Pentagon health study from 2011 that one out of five military women reporting unwanted sexual contact and the highest rate of sexual abuse was found in the Marines with 30%. The sexual abuse rates from this survey seem to be significantly higher than in similar surveys from 2008. These surveys are showing that the problem of sexual assault in the military keeps growing throughout the years. It's horrific to think that these women are fighting for out country and that there is little being done to stop the abuse the from happening. With that being said, Senator Kristen Gillibrand from New York is chair of the personal subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee and she working on a legislation to remove the chain of command decision to file charges on felony cases, including rape and sexual. Gillibrand says in the article "...victims of sexual assault in the military hesitate to complain because they fear retribution or skepticism from commanders..". It's good to know that something is being down about this growing issue.

 

(Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, right, talks with former U.S. Army Sgt. Rebekah Havrilla who is a victim of sexual abuse in the military)

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/22/women-military-sexual-assault/2103075/

Sexual Violence against Female Soldiers

When choosing an article to base my blog around, one article that was intriguing to me was an article on projectcensored.org called " Sexual Violence against Women Soldiers on the Rise and under Wraps". The start of the article talks about US Army Private LaVena Johnson and how her 2005 death was ruled a suicide. Johnson's autopsy went on to reveal wounds that are inconsistent with suicide and showed signs of chemical burns that were meant to destroy DNA evidence of a possible rape. They story of LaVena Johnson is one of many deaths of female soldiers that have died in suspicious circumstances and show the rise of sexual violence against female soldiers in the military.

I believe this story is on the "censored" list because there are many people in the government who would want to cover up this information. In the article, the writer goes on to say that the Pentagon intimidated reporters and editors about the Johnson story. Our government shouldn't be intimidating reporters into writing stories that they feel should be available to the public because of our First Amendment rights of free speech. I believe that the public should know about what is happening within our armed forces. Also, I believe as a women, I would want to know what is happening to to my fellow women within our armed forces.


http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/16-sexual-violence-against-women-soldiers-on-the-rise-and-under-wraps/