Unfortunately, women have to worry about being sexually harassed almost everywhere they go... even in the military. A new study conducted by the Pentagon shows that 1/3 of women in the military have experienced sexual harassment.


It really upsets me that this is going on. To me, it shows that many men are still not taking women in the military seriously. These women enlist to serve their country - not to be treated like a piece of meat. When people argue against women being in the military, often they will reason that the presence of women might "distract" the men from their duties. It is clear that this isn't too far from the truth, but why should it then be the woman's responsibility to back off? Women shouldn't be kept out of the military because some men can't keep their hands to themselves.

Additionally, sexual harassment in the military is not just happening to women. 6% of men also reported being harassed, although it is unclear if the majority of the offenders were male or female. But these statistics still show that sexual harassment in the military is a major problem that is not getting nearly enough attention. I'm worried about women being discouraged from enlisting in the military because of potential harassment. It's tough enough being a woman in a male-dominated association without having to deal with being violated.

What can be done about this though? What kind of steps can be taken to prevent it? Better education? Stricter policies? It's hard to say. I think in the end, it's attitudes towards women that need to be reformed. Unfortunately, that's by far the hardest thing to change.