Sexual Assault 1

Social Welfare, History, Policy, and Practice

Alfred McGuire

Capella University
Sexual Assault 2

Sexual Assault

In the past few decades, it has been common to hear of sexual assault cases amongst

political and military leaders as they decry the continued incidences of sexual harassment and

assault within the military. For a long time, little was known about the reporting mechanisms in

the military and whether these steps were prohibitive or not. When the Department of Defense

(DoD) realized a need to establish continued attention to the prevention, surveillance, and

reporting of sexual aggression, a clear trend was already emergent regarding the impact this

would have on the military in the long run. Whether the measures taken to ensure such reporting

took place were adequate or not were difficult to establish in this case alone. The values of the

military were tested and the associated outcomes reveal that need for better policies to help

improve reporting of such policies and comprehensively addressing the victims suffering.

Advocacy methods are necessary to guarantee future cases are well addressed and used as a

pointer to the important structures of building the conditions of care across the military

community.

Forms and Mechanisms of Oppression and Discrimination

The discriminations taking place within the military have been well hidden from the

public eye because pf the strict code of conduct in place. Even those how leave the military

cannot talk about what they went through while in the service. However, Morral et al. (2015)

from the RAND National Defense Research Institute were tasked with the role of conducting an

independent assessment of sexual assault, gender discrimination, and sexual harassment within

the forces. After inviting close to 560,000 active-and-reserve component serve members, they

established close to 20,300 who were active experienced some form of sexual assault, while 34%

of men were sexually assault. At least 116,600 active component service members were sexually
Sexual Assault 3

harassed within the past year. Sexual assault varied by the branch of service with the Air Force

reporting the lowest rates substantially in comparison to the Army, Navy and Marine Corps.

Women were five times likelier to be sexually assaulted compared to the men. At least 1% of

men and 4.9% of women were at risk of assault. At least 90% of men assaulted took place in a

military setting, and in man incidences was perpetuated by military personnel. As such, this

made it harder for many to work well since they were going through difficulties within their area

of specialization. It also creates a poor working environment. The officers have a hard time

dealing with such incidences

The unethicality of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and discrimination at work leads to

social injustice. Social change is needed in such cases, to help address the vulnerable and

oppressed individuals and groups of people. The focus of this group of people is to promote the

sensitivity of the issue and provide some form of reprieve to the affected individuals (NASW,

2018). The equality of opportunity is needed and development of meaningful participation in

decision making is needed. The fact that the respect for individual inherent dignity as well as

appreciating the worthiness of the individual is affected by such assault shows a need to examine

the ole of such decisions ultimately. Harassment and assault have a negative impact on human

relationships (NASW, 2018). Ethical principles highlight a common need to restore, enhance,

and maintain the wellbeing of the social procedures that will build and promote ethical values

and standards to improve how servicemen and servicewomen deal with these concerns.

As a result of information on the sexual assault, the incidences sexual assault,

harassment, and gender discrimination, the US Pacific Fleet commander came up with a host of

measures to curtail the spread of such incidences. Swift (n.d.) came up with a policy where all

commanders were mandated to notify the Pacific Fleet Battle Watch Captain of any form of
Sexual Assault 4

sexual assault or harassment incidences and create assessments of their responses and prevention

to ensure that the victims were safeguarded. The policy is one of the many constituted to place

emphasis on zero tolerance of assault cases. According to the Sexual Assault Prevention and

Response (n.d.), training as offered to help improve service delivery and build on the choices that

these individuals had regarding the considerations needed to address assault from a local level of

interaction. The information provided by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services

(2007) sought to present measures necessary to improve the cooperation with the law

enforcement as part of assisting anyone reporting the cases of assault or harassment. It also

highlighted the need to be in line with the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2005 and

ensure underreporting of assault cases reduced considerably. Stander and Thomsen (2016) also

document the changes that have been taking place, with emphasis on the standardization of some

of the preferred measures to deal with all affected parties. Something needs to be done to

establish better care processes and improve on the way the victims handle the incidences.

Even with increased attention to preventative measures, concerns of the sexual assault

evaluations have been unforthcoming. Orchowski et al. (2018) note that the establishment of the

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) did not make it easier to address

sexual assault due to the lack of formal evaluation platforms to determine the efficacy of the

programs. The research needed to address the impact of the SAPRO in the military. More is

needed to help determine whether the overall trends of reporting the assault has been equivocal

in meeting the demands of handling the military populations. Such incidences highlight the

complexity of sexual assault cases in the military. The studies conducted are based on the

voluntariness of the victim to avail information. The Virginia Department of Criminal Justice

Services (2007) alludes to a similar fact, noting that the code of Virginia does not explicitly
Sexual Assault 5

mandate any of the victims to corporate or even participate in the criminal justice process.

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (n.d.) address this by providing the restricted reporting

platform. Here, victims are able to make their reporting and fully explore one’s rights so as to

make informed decisions without getting the pressure to engage in the legal processes. The

freedom is good but in reality, this is difficult to follow up and provide stringent measures to

safeguard their wellbeing.

In comparison to advocacies taking place across the civilian avenues, something needs to

be done to enjoy the benefits that arise in the process. The fact that none of the policies has

considered the trauma the men and women face due to the trauma is wanting. The advocacy of

the best social structures highlights a common trend that highlights the intended notions of what

is taking place is also imperative. Assault leaves one with a scarred history and trust issues.

Therapy and counselling can be a good option and should be used to drive the point home. The

choices are necessary to improve the view the affected persons have and use that to build on their

resilience. The same people are serving in highly emotive environments and they have a lot to

deal with in their service. Assault just worsens the situation because these people have to deal

with people they have undergone tribulations with in battle. Another thing missing is the

culturally relevant responses to help address this issue. The need for reflective understanding of

why such issues occur is not well examined, an attribute that does not evaluate the safety of these

conversations held. Fear of such negative exposure in a highly knit and controlled environment

means that little autonomy is provided with the self-determinism creating respect and care in the

end. The most essential step is to build on the value structures where people in the military can

get the best care possible. Ideally, no one should stand to suffer because of the lack of

mechanisms to address sexual assault.

Sexual Assault 6

References

National Association of Social Workers. (NASW). (2018). Social work speaks: National

Association of Social Workers policy statements, 2018-2020. Washington, D.C: NASW

Press.

Morral, A. R., Gore, K., Schell, T. L., Bicksler, B., Farris, C., Ghosh-Dastidar, B…. & Williams,

K. M. (2015). Sexual assault and sexual harassment in the U.S. Military: Highlights from

the 2014 RAND Military Workplace Study. Santa Monica, CA.: RAND Corporation.

Retrieved from https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9841.html

Orchowski, L. M., Berry-Cabán, C. S., Prisock, K., Borsari, B., & Kazemi, D. M. (2018).

Evaluations of sexual assault prevention programs in military settings: A synthesis of the

research literature. Military medicine, 183(suppl_1), 421–428.

doi:10.1093/milmed/usx212

Sexual Assault Prevention and Response. (n.d.). Retrieved from

http://www.public.navy.mil/nrh/Pages/sexual-assault-prevention.aspx

Stander, V. A. & Thomsen, C. J. (2016). Sexual harassment and assault in the U.S. military: A

review of policy and research trends. Military Medicine, 181 (suppl_1), 20–27.

Swift, S. H. (n.d.). Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Retrieved from

http://www.cpf.navy.mil/employees/sexual-assault-prevention-and-response-statement/

Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. (2007). Blueprints for change: Criminal

justice policy issues in Virginia. Sexual Assault Policies in Virginia Law Enforcement

Agencies. Staunton, VA: DCJS, Retrieved

from https://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/sites/dcjs.virginia.gov/files/publications/dcjs/sexual-

assault-policies-virginia-law-enforcement-agencies.pdf