Military sexual assault is focus of YouTube series
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The enormous obstacles and emotional torment that a female solider confronts in reporting a sexual assault in the military is the focus of the three-part Web series "Lauren" debuting Monday on YouTube's new channel WIGS, which focuses on drama for women.
Featuring "Flashdance" star Jennifer Beals and Troian Bellisario, "Lauren" gives a close-up look at the challenges women service members face in trying to find justice after being raped. It's a problem that military leaders have focused unprecedented attention on this year.
The Defense Department has estimated that 86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, an indication that some women are worried about the effect reporting an assault may have on their career and that they mistrust the military prosecution system. Nearly 3,200 sexual assaults were reported in the military last year.
Military leaders say sexual assault is not only dehumanizing to the victims but threatens operational readiness. The Pentagon has set up hotlines and has been trying to encourage service members to help victims. High-ranking Navy leaders have likened their campaign to the crusade years ago to stop rampant drug abuse, although activists say sweeping institutional changes are needed for victims to find justice.
Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, "Lauren" sets out to show viewers how unfair and unsympathetic the military can be toward the abuse of female service members. At the same time, it depicts the turmoil of many of the victims — who have a deep love and respect for the military but often feel betrayed after coming forward.
The series opens with an Army commanding officer — Maj. Jo Stone, played by Beals — scrutinizing a report made by a sergeant named Lauren about being raped by three fellow soldiers. Stone asks the young soldier if she ever considered a career as a fiction writer and then asks how many drinks she had the night of the "incident." She provides an ominous warning if she pursues her accusations.
"Even if the men are deemed guilty, they're likely to suffer a reprimand or a slight pay cut, nothing more," Stone tells the soldier. "But WHAT will happen to you may expose you to repercussions for your entire career."
After Monday's debut, the second and third episodes in the series will be available Wednesday and Friday.
Beals told The Associated Press her character's words may at first seem hurtful and harsh but later viewers realize it's more complex for the commanding officer, who herself has had to fight her way up through the ranks.
"Even though she seems so hard, there is one little flicker of humanity," Beals said, adding later: "You have to get to the end (of the series) before you realize what the real story is."
Bellisario said in an interview that she was drawn to the script because even though her father, "NCIS" and "JAG" producer Donald P. Bellisario, served in the Marine Corps, she was not aware of the institutional barriers in today's military that deter many female service members from reporting sexual assaults.
"The biggest problem when you're overseas and you're serving, is all you have is the guy or girl next to you and your commanding officer," Bellisario said. "If your commanding officer does not want to do it (report the rape), then you have nowhere else to go."
More than a dozen U.S. veterans who say they were raped or assaulted by comrades filed a class-action suit in federal court last year attempting to force the Pentagon to change how it handles such cases. The current and former service members — 15 women and two men — described circumstances in which servicemen allegedly got away with rape and other sexual abuse while their victims were ordered to continue to serve with them. In several cases, the aggressors continued to call them names and taunt them.
Bellisario hopes the series will help push efforts to prevent sexual assault and prosecute it to the full degree.
"My hope is people will see that this is not slandering this great institution but rather holding it up to a high standard and asking it to recognize there is an issue and that it should be addressed," she said. "It's not anti-military at all."
Anuradha Bhagwati is a former Marine Corps captain and executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, which advocates for such policy changes. She was allowed to preview the series and says it gives a realistic picture of what thousands of female service members face, especially its depiction of the retaliation and name calling victims often suffer.
According to Bhagwati's organization, the Defense Department's own statistics show that fewer than one in five of these cases are even referred for court martial. She says part of the problem is unit commanders are the judge and jury in these types of cases and there needs to be an impartial party involved. Too often, she adds, perpetrators are given nonjudicial punishments.
"One of the key things that the series brings up," Bhagwati said, "is this idea that you often don't get a fair shot within the military judicial system."
Featuring "Flashdance" star Jennifer Beals and Troian Bellisario, "Lauren" gives a close-up look at the challenges women service members face in trying to find justice after being raped. It's a problem that military leaders have focused unprecedented attention on this year.
The Defense Department has estimated that 86 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, an indication that some women are worried about the effect reporting an assault may have on their career and that they mistrust the military prosecution system. Nearly 3,200 sexual assaults were reported in the military last year.
Military leaders say sexual assault is not only dehumanizing to the victims but threatens operational readiness. The Pentagon has set up hotlines and has been trying to encourage service members to help victims. High-ranking Navy leaders have likened their campaign to the crusade years ago to stop rampant drug abuse, although activists say sweeping institutional changes are needed for victims to find justice.
Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, "Lauren" sets out to show viewers how unfair and unsympathetic the military can be toward the abuse of female service members. At the same time, it depicts the turmoil of many of the victims — who have a deep love and respect for the military but often feel betrayed after coming forward.
The series opens with an Army commanding officer — Maj. Jo Stone, played by Beals — scrutinizing a report made by a sergeant named Lauren about being raped by three fellow soldiers. Stone asks the young soldier if she ever considered a career as a fiction writer and then asks how many drinks she had the night of the "incident." She provides an ominous warning if she pursues her accusations.
"Even if the men are deemed guilty, they're likely to suffer a reprimand or a slight pay cut, nothing more," Stone tells the soldier. "But WHAT will happen to you may expose you to repercussions for your entire career."
After Monday's debut, the second and third episodes in the series will be available Wednesday and Friday.
Beals told The Associated Press her character's words may at first seem hurtful and harsh but later viewers realize it's more complex for the commanding officer, who herself has had to fight her way up through the ranks.
"Even though she seems so hard, there is one little flicker of humanity," Beals said, adding later: "You have to get to the end (of the series) before you realize what the real story is."
Bellisario said in an interview that she was drawn to the script because even though her father, "NCIS" and "JAG" producer Donald P. Bellisario, served in the Marine Corps, she was not aware of the institutional barriers in today's military that deter many female service members from reporting sexual assaults.
"The biggest problem when you're overseas and you're serving, is all you have is the guy or girl next to you and your commanding officer," Bellisario said. "If your commanding officer does not want to do it (report the rape), then you have nowhere else to go."
More than a dozen U.S. veterans who say they were raped or assaulted by comrades filed a class-action suit in federal court last year attempting to force the Pentagon to change how it handles such cases. The current and former service members — 15 women and two men — described circumstances in which servicemen allegedly got away with rape and other sexual abuse while their victims were ordered to continue to serve with them. In several cases, the aggressors continued to call them names and taunt them.
Bellisario hopes the series will help push efforts to prevent sexual assault and prosecute it to the full degree.
"My hope is people will see that this is not slandering this great institution but rather holding it up to a high standard and asking it to recognize there is an issue and that it should be addressed," she said. "It's not anti-military at all."
Anuradha Bhagwati is a former Marine Corps captain and executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, which advocates for such policy changes. She was allowed to preview the series and says it gives a realistic picture of what thousands of female service members face, especially its depiction of the retaliation and name calling victims often suffer.
According to Bhagwati's organization, the Defense Department's own statistics show that fewer than one in five of these cases are even referred for court martial. She says part of the problem is unit commanders are the judge and jury in these types of cases and there needs to be an impartial party involved. Too often, she adds, perpetrators are given nonjudicial punishments.
"One of the key things that the series brings up," Bhagwati said, "is this idea that you often don't get a fair shot within the military judicial system."
Interesting that a tech company is doing this. Isn't the tech industry one of the most mysogynistic industries out there? It says something about the industry when the porn convention in Las Vegas is intentionally held at that same time as a tech industry convention. Maybe YouTube should reform their industry first before looking to point the finger at someone else.
The line below in paragraph 4 was mis-written; what I meant to say was that if I was to sexually harass a female subordinate of mine---a scenario that DOES happen, meaning that occasionally superiors do harass their female or male subordinates.....; it was not meant to imply that I myself have committed such an act. if I had, I would turn myself in and ask to be relieved of duties, were I to ever get that stupid. It was not meant to infer that I myself had ever commited such an act. I have not and never will. But I do know of a few that have over the years. And yes, those folks deserve to get chewed up---and they do. And NOT all of them are male, mind you. Served with a female drill sergeant one time many years ago who was harrassing several male new soldiers; and she got relieved and kicked out. As well she should have.
Â
Sad but true.
Ya know, the part that bugs the cr*p outta me here is that the rate of sexual assault on the civilian side is several times that of the military--you can find this on the DOJ website. It is empirical fact, not 'personal opinion'. And yet everyone acts like "oh but it's the military". Yeah, we are the military, yes. That means we are held to a higher standard, yes. But people need to remember that SOLDIERS ARE PEOPLE TOO, as stupid and obvious as that sounds when you actually say it. But it is still true. People think soldiers are all a bunch or robots or automatons who have no feelings or emotions or hormones or sex drive. Yes, we are supposed to hold to a higher standard, yes. GRANTED. But we are still humans, who make mistakes, who make errors in judgment, and who screw up occasionally. Justice-wise, the difference is that on OUR side, if you're convicted, YOU GET SMOKED LIKE A CHEAP CIGAR. As in: your a** is going away FOR A LONG TIME TO MILITARY PRISON----where there are no 'internet cafes', there are no workout gyms or college classes or 'retraining' or loaded with every type and sort of 'rehabilitation'. It is called "confinement at hard labor"---which is what prison is supposed to be.
Â
On the civilian side, you get convicted of a level-one offense, (which is what rape is--one of 7), you may be out in 3 to 5 years for "good behavior". ("good behavior"? Are you kidding? What the h*ll has that got to do with it?) So....you tell me where the 'real injustice' is. What are we saying: that a woman's life is somehow 'worth more' or 'more valuable' on the one side than on the other? Or that if a soldier gets raped it's somehow 'more heinous' than if a civilian woman does? Or vice versa? COME ON.
Â
Do you know how often sexual harassment happens at a company like, say, Microsoft? DAILY. And funny----you never hear about THAT in the news do you? And what's the WORST that could happen to a guy who does it in the civilian marketplace? He gets fired. BIG-WHOOPEDY-DING DONG. The guy moves along to another company and goes back to work. And he doesn't even HAVE to tell his new employer why ho no longer works at Microsoft o whomever.
Â
In the military, if I were to harrass one of my female subordinates and get convicted of it---WHICH DOES IN FACT HAPPEN---my a** is GOING TO JAIL----and I'm going to jail for a LONG TIME. Minimum 2 years and possibly as many as 10. And there's no 'getting off early for good behavior'; there's no 'parole' from military prison.
Â
Now, do we still need to get parts of our house in order? Yes. Could we still do a better job n this regard? Yes, of course. But before you start pointing fingers at the military ( a place I have given the last 30 years of my life to), and acting like 'boy they really have a problem in there' you need to be sure you have THE REAL STORY and the WHOLE story-----not just the part the left-leaning media wants to tell you about. I have served in coed units for the past 17 years (many years in the Infantry prior to that) and I can tell you that the females I have worked with have NEVER reported any 'bigtime sexual harrassment issues'. I'm not saying there aren't any, no----but this artivle makes it sound like the miltiary has some 'bigtime problem' with it---when in truth it is VASTLY worse on the civilian side, and at least on our side, those who commit the crimes gets SMOKED BAD. As they should.
As Groucho succinctly and accurately stated, "Military justice is the justice as military music is to music."... I hope these folks and this movie put the screws to the military apes who think women in the military are there for their personal "comfort"!!! Rape in the military used to be an executable offense...