VIDEO: NATIONAL GUARD FEMALE SOLDIER JEN HOGG TALKS ABOUT SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN MILITARY

Editor's Note: Today, Truthout addresses gender issues in Part IV of our coverage of the "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan" testimonies. I interviewed former National Guard mechanic Jen Hogg, who organized the Winter Soldier panel on gender and sexuality. We've also included the testimonies of three panelists, who shared their stories of harassment, assault and discrimination. -ms/TO

Gender in the Ranks By Maya Schenwar t r u t h o u t Report
Wednesday 09 April 2008

VIEW VIDEO HERE: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/040908J.shtml

Unlike many of the other panels at Winter Soldier, the one devoted to gender and sexuality in the military featured no gory videos. The testimonies included many secondhand accounts, especially when the subject came around to rape and sexual assault. And though it was the only panel in which none of the speakers divulged personal acts of violence, it was one that, at times, betrayed a raw sense of shame. At one point, a panelist broke from her testimony, biting back tears, and muttered, "I hate to be the girl." Another panelist, Jeff Key, later noted the significance of this: Even within the supportive walls of the peace movement, "this idea that men are beings devoid of feeling and compassion, and that women are weak and just a ball of emotion," pervades.
Tellingly, the gender and sexuality event was also the only panel that took a little struggle to get on the schedule. Panelists mentioned that, when the idea for a gender panel was first suggested, some veterans dismissed it, calling the topic irrelevant.
However, as National Guard veteran Margaret Stevens noted, gender issues pervade every topic discussed at Winter Soldier.
"If you want to talk about rules of engagement, you could talk about the engagement of Iraqi civilian women," she said. "If you want to talk about corporate pillaging and military contractors, you could talk about contracted sexual labor... These issues transcend into the core of the war itself."
Fifteen percent of US military personnel are women. According to a 2003 Department of Defense (DOD) study, almost one-third of female veterans seeking Department of Veterans' Affairs care reported rape or attempted rape during their period of service. Fourteen percent reported being gang raped. Thirty-seven percent of those reporting rape cited more than one incident.
Those numbers may not come as a surprise: They have flashed across network TV broadcasts and the pages of major newspapers over the past few months. Yet, they don't tell the whole truth. Panelists pointed out many military assaults go unreported, and even at Winter Soldier, very few women found the atmosphere conducive to disclosing their own experiences of sexual violence.

Click on link to read the full story.