ACLU LAWSUIT: MILITARY WON'T RELEASE RAPE RECORDS

Conn. ACLU lawsuit says military refuses to release records on rape, sex harassment cases

JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
AP News

Dec 13, 2010 16:52 EST

Sexual assault pervades the military, but the Pentagon refuses to release records that fully document the problem and how it is handled, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups said in a federal lawsuit that seeks access to the records.

Tens of thousands of service members have reported some form of sexual assault, harassment or trauma in the past decade, according to the lawsuit filed Monday in New Haven against the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs. The plaintiffs include the Service Women's Action Network, the ACLU of Connecticut and Yale Law School students.

The groups that filed suit want information on the number of acquittals, convictions and sentences, the number of disability claims related to sexual trauma that were accepted and rejected, and the number of sexual harassment complaints. The records are needed to determine the extent of the problem and what has been done to address it, the groups say.

"The government's refusal to even take the first step of providing comprehensive and accurate information about the sexual trauma inflicted upon our women and men in uniform ... is all too telling," said Anuradha Bhagwati, a former Marine captain and executive director of SWAN. "The DOD and VA should put the interests of service members first and expose information on the extent of sexual trauma in the military to the sanitizing light of day."

The Department of Defense does not comment on pending lawsuits, a spokeswoman said. A message was left Monday with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The government prosecutes 8 percent of military sex offenders, while 40 percent of civilian sex offenders are prosecuted, according to the lawsuit. Post-traumatic stress disorder claims related to sexual trauma are often denied for failing to prove the case, even when men and women in uniform have been diagnosed with the disorder, the lawsuit said.

The Department of Defense said there were 3,230 reports of sexual assault involving military service members as victims or subjects in fiscal year 2009, an increase of 11 percent from the prior year. The report said part of the increase stemmed from a social marketing campaign aimed at preventing sexual assault.

The lawsuit contends sexual assaults are nearly twice as common within military ranks as in civilian society, and surveys show that nearly one in three women report being sexually assaulted during their time in the military.

About 80 percent of unwanted or threatening sexual acts are not reported, according to the lawsuit. Victims who report abuse to their superiors often face social isolation, retribution and counteraccusations, the lawsuit says.

Sexual abuse is the primary causes of PTSD among female service members.

"Much of the information about the extent and cost of the (military sexual trauma) problem, along with the government's reluctance to prosecute offenders and treat victims, is not in the public sphere," the lawsuit states. "The public has a compelling interest in knowing this information, given the potential enormity of the problem, the emotional and financial cost that it imposes on military service members and the increasing number of women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq."

Source: AP News

Anyone horrified enough to leave a comment? sandyo

ERA President Sandy Oestreich's Speech before Legislators of Orange and Brevard Counties, Dec. 2010

ACTUAL 3 MIN SPEECH TO THE BREVARD County, etc., Leg. Delegation (n=7), Dec 14, 2010, Viera Comm. Chambers,FL. Similar to the one I gave before the ORANGE COUNTY Legislative Delegation (n=15) the day prior.

Offering Kudos to the audience and you legislators for your patience and your courtesy over this long day (3pm-9:30)!

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) requires No Funding, does not increase lawsuits, 88% of constituents want and need it. We URGE ONLY JUST A HEARING, vote up or down!

ERA says “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any State on account of sex, gender.”

ERA benefits males as well as females, with Strict Scrutiny before the courts, and MORE.

I am Sandy Oestreich, president of 2 national nonprofits to Pass the Federal ERA by ratifying Florida + 2 other states.

Our Alliance is single-issue, nonpartisan, nonprofit, beholden to no one else.

ERA bills have been before our legislators for NINE YEARS. Sometimes, 49 cosponsors.

In the 2011 Session, we 300 000 urge you to break with Business as Usual and HOLD ERA HEARINGS!

If you won’t do it as a legacy for your children,

Or for the women in your Family,

Or for Men seeking fair child support,

Or Just because it’s the moral thing,

Then ratify it for the ECONOMY—give it a chance.

A hobbled female gender, half the population, seems unwise. Females could be our Engines of Economic Growth—HUMAN CAPITAL-- say the

IMF , the EU, the UN:

Wherever GENDER EQUALITY IS THE STANDARD, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) CLIMBS! Scandinavian countries capitalize on that. The USA should , too!

And: higher business profits, economic stability, fewer on Public Assistance & Food Stamps, less red-tape, fewer lawsuits and court costs, unslashed budgets!

In this climate of austerity, please Pass ONE thing your constituents WANT AND NEED—that DOESN’T COST A DIME!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE…Just hold ERA hearings in 2011—UP or DOWN!

President Haridopolos, Speaker Cannon

If we may, we urge you to hold ERA hearings…

Or

Tell us now why you would object. (Some have already been to see him and heard him say that “ERA would hurt ‘business’”and thus has poor prospects in the Florida legislature. We can only assume he meant that mega-suits like Wal-Mart’s would become the norm as corporations would bear mega-high fines for their mega-discrimination activities so common today. That, and the fact that they would have to pay equal wages for equal work.)

[Senate President appeared to come alive/awake, and said he wasn't aware that he objected. I reminded that we are asking only why he would IF he does.

Then the Chair, Sen. Altman, remonstrated that protocol required that the public communicate through the Chairman.

I apologized for the gaffe, unknowing, and said I was directing the question of ERA hearings to the President (Haridopolos) because he had the power to decide which bills get hearings and chooses the committee members. The audience gasped that I had dared expose the sly underbelly of Republican politics.

Then came the familiar public lie. Chair, Sen. Altman briefly explained that the CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEES DECIDE ABOUT BILL HEARINGS! (Reinforcing A CONTINUING AND UNACCOUNTABLE LIE).

Then Altman commented that we did have the Florida Constitution. I asked if I might interject. He nodded. I then said I would try to disabuse him of the idea that our State constitution did protect sex discrimination. I went on to tell him that the ERA part of the Florida constitution that we fought hard to get in place in 1998, was overturned in 2001 and rubberstamped in 2004, both in that same county, Brevard.

Iwent on: Thus the Florida constitution that we worked so hard to amend to include a Florida State ERA, the "mini-ERA" did not act against sex discrimination (was made "moot" in 2001, not overturned), nor does the 14th Amendment (a men-only protection), nor do laws. For example, the Pay Equity Act of 1964 is ignored. That's why women in Florida are paid on average only 72% of the salaries of men For The Same Job!

The audience broke out in applause, a break in protocol, the first that long day! Thanks to supporters of ERA, legislators' constituents. It made a difference. MANY THANKS TO THOSE WHO CAME OUT TO STAND WITH ME AT THIS IMPORTANT TIME: Susan Clary, Lorraine Tuliano and Holly Luisi in Orlando; Sandy Michelson in Brevard County.

We WILL do this! We WILL ratify Florida and two other states. That will put the Equal Rights Amendment in the US Constitution. Your Equal Rights Alliance is helping to mentor six other states--we just need THREE to ratify!

We wonder, ARE WOMEN STICKING THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND, or are they really aware and in denial over the multiple ways they are discriminated against? Why are they not marching in the streets as we did in the 1970s? It was potent then. It would be potent now.

What's at least AS effective is calling these legislators and URGING A HEARING ON THE ERA BILL in 2011. Here are the numbers:

Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, 407 623-5740 (remember, his influence will bring it to a vote in the House--that's all we need). You are his VIP if you are a Constituent of his--tell them in your call.

Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, 321 752-3131 (again, he holds the highest influence over bill selections for a Senate hearing and over Committees who vote on ERA)

Pitch in by emailing me at SandyO@PassERA.org, and get up to speed on the ERA work being done by touring www.2PassERA.org! We need MORE OF YOUR SMILING FACES alongside OURS. We cannot do this without you any longer! If you want an ERA, then...EMAIL ME THAT YOU ARE "WITH" US. IT'S THE MAGIC THAT WORKS FOR WOMEN: SOLIDARITY.

My express thanks for this IMPORTANT WORK for the Country's survival, and YOURS.

Sandy Oestreich, Founder/President, and Chief Agitator for the ERA

Prof. Emerita; nurse practitioner, former elected official: SandyO@PassERA.org. CALL THOSE LEGISLATORS ABOVE...NOW! WE CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH.

Warm wishes for a Holiday Season filled with Love!

RAPE is a SERIOUS crime in Sweden !

Julian Assange, WikiLeaks Owner, finds out that Sweden doesn't take RAPE lying down! Much more serious than in USA. why are we not surprised. (Excerpt)

In Sweden, Sex Assault Gets Little Tolerance

By KATRIN BENNHOLD

Published: December 7, 2010

Now Mr. Assange, an Australian who is currently in Britain, faces an extradition request from Swedish prosecutors who want to question him on whether separate sexual encounters he had with each of the women became nonconsensual after he was no longer using a condom. Mr. Assange has denied all wrongdoing.

“If he claims that truth and transparency is behind WikiLeaks, he needs to accept the same standards of transparency for himself and come testify,” said Claes Borgstrom, a lawyer representing the two women.

Swedish criminal laws regarding sex offenses are not necessarily all that much stricter than the laws in many other European countries, Mr. Borgstrom said.

But Swedish women, backed by a strong consciousness of women’s rights and a history of a very public discussion of the scourge of sexual violence, may be more willing than most to look to the law for help.

The number of reported rapes in Sweden is by far the highest in the European Union, according to the European Sourcebook of Crime and Criminal Justice Statistics, which cites 53 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. Britain has the next highest rate, at 24 per 100,000.

Stefan Lisinski, a veteran crime reporter for the daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter, said he spent between a third to half of his time writing about sexual crimes. Last month a senior police chief was convicted of rape in a high-profile appeals case.

This is most probably not a result of more sexual violence taking place in Sweden, legal experts said, but a result of more crimes being reported.

Some people say, in fact, that if female empowerment — economic, social, and also legal — has a different quality in Sweden than in other countries, it is because men are also at the heart of the gender-equality debate.

Eighty-five percent of Swedish men take parental leave and even conservative male politicians call themselves feminists. With men and women more equal at work and at home, and concerns about the state intruding actively into family and personal affairs long gone, some taboos that may have protected sexual offenders may also be disappearing.

Some people are now lobbying for an additional tightening of the sexual assault and rape laws in Sweden. They contend that the definition of rape should be expanded to include situations in which a woman does not explicitly say no to sex, but clearly signals her opposition in other ways.

“Sometimes we lawyers joke that soon you have to have a written permission before you can have sex,” said Bengt Hesselberg, a defense lawyer with extensive experience in sexual cases. If Sweden’s current criminal code is not much stricter on sexual offenses than those of other European countries, the Swedish laws may be more nuanced, by differentiating among three categories of rape and, unusually, invoking the concept of “unlawful coercion.”

There is a category identified as “severe rape,” which involves a high degree of violence and which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for the perpetrator; another known as “regular rape,” which may involve some violence and calls for a maximum sentence of six years; and a third called “less severe rape,” which may not involve violence but still includes the imposition of sexual intercourse on a person against her will.

The prosecutors seeking Mr. Assange’s extradition suspect that he may have engaged in this last category, which is punishable by as much as four years in prison.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 8, 2010

An earlier version of this article mispelled the name of the lawyer Claes Borgstrom.

A version of this article appeared in print on December 8, 2010, on page A10 of the New York edition.