Archive for November 11th, 2008

We called this Armistice Day when I was a child….that was the old name.  It was the day to put flowers on the graves of dead servicemen, and maybe take a load of books to the local veterans’ home or hospital.  And normally, that would be what I would write about here.  But not today.  Because I am too engrossed in burning stupid and female rage, thank you very much.

The news over the last couple years has had outrageous stories of sexual assault against military women in and out of the warzones.  Military women and female civilian contractors alike have faced high odds of being sexually assaulted.

Rapists in the military, however,  have excellent odds of never being prosecuted.  An estimated 80% of the rapes are never reported; of the paltry 20% that are (that number being almost 1300 for 2008 alone), only 8% go to trial by courts martial.  So of that 1300, around a hundred men went to trial.  Please mentally compare this to a 40% prosecution rate in civilian law enforcement?  WTF?

Now that I have your attention, I hope, I want you to focus on what I view as a huge dodge being perpetrated upon military rape victims.  Everyone knows the flak Sarah Palin caught when it was revealed that she made a rule of not paying for rape kits in Wasilla.   Well, the military has a similar take on it.  You see, the military police apparently have taken that little item our of their toolbox entirely.  Rape, and thus rape kits, have been put under the purview of the medical system—as if rape is a special female health problem, rather than a crime.

They don’t budget the rape kits into the military law enforcement plan.  Instead, they shifted the payment part to TRICARE.  TRICARE is the military MEDICAL insurance plan.  Now, do civilian rape victims ever get told that their medical plan needs to pay for the rape evidence gathering?  NO.

Furthermore, TRICARE REFUSES TO PAY FOR RAPE KITS.  TRICARE says it is evidenciary in nature and thus not of medical theraputic value.   Personally, I absolutely agree with that statement.  I have seen a rape kit administered, the victim found it grueling and embarrassing and damn near as bad AS the rape.  It IS for the purpose of gathering evidence and is NOT medical treatment.

The military LAW ENFORCEMENT  budget needs to pay for this forensic application.  But in the meanwhile, rape victims have to pay out of their own pocket—is it any wonder 80% of victims do not even report?  Apparently, sometime next year, TRICARE will be forced to cover this cost.  That is burning stupid.  The rage is the very idea that rape kits were not considered a law enforcement issue from the outset; that women being raped are told to ante up for their own evidence.  Talk about women scorned?   Blaming the victim raised to a new level of shame…not to mention a red herring that stinks to high levels.

Call your Congressional reps and Senators, please?  Ask why rape should EVER be considered a “health care issue” instead of a CRIME.