Trouble in the ranks

It got to the point that I felt safer outside the wire, Captain White said,referring to operations that take soldiers off their heavily fortified bases,than I did taking a shower.

Her ordeal ended with the military equivalent of a restraining order and charges of stalking against the officer. It is one case that highlights the new and often messy reality the military has had to face as men and women serve side by side in combat zones more than ever before.

Sexual harassment and sexual assault,which the US military now defines broadly to include not only rape but also crimes like groping and stalking,continue to afflict the ranks,and by some measures are rising. While tens of thousands of women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan,often in combat,often with distinction,the integration of men and women in places like Camp Taji has forced to the surface issues that commanders rarely,if ever confronted before.

The strains of combat,close quarters in remote locations,tension and even boredom can create the conditions for abuse,even as they hinder medical care for victims and legal proceedings against those who attack them.

A Pentagon-appointed task force,in a report released this month,pointedly criticised the militarys efforts to prevent sexual abuse,citing the unique stresses of deployments in places like Camp Taji. Some military personnel indicated that predators may believe they will not be held accountable for their misconduct during deployment because commanders focus on the mission overshadows other concerns, the report said.

That,among other reasons,is why sexual assault and harassment go unreported far more often than not. Youre in the middle of a war zone, Captain White said,reflecting a fear many military women describe of being seen,somehow,as harming the mission. So its kind of like that one little thing is nothing compared with There is an I.E.D. that went off in this convoy today and three people were injured, she said,referring to an improvised explosive device.

Common Fears

By the Pentagons estimate,as few as 10 per cent of sexual assaults are reported,far lower than the percentage reported in the civilian world. Specialist Erica A. Beck,a mechanic and gunner who served in Diyala Province in Iraq this summer,recalled a sexual proposition she called inappropriate during her first tour in the country in 2006-7. Not necessarily being vulgar,but he,you know,was asking for favours, she said.

She did not report it,she said,because she feared that her commanders would have reacted harshlytoward her.

It was harassment, she said. And because it was a warrant officer,I didnt say anything.

Although exact comparisons to the civilian world are difficult because of different methods of defining and reporting abuse,Pentagon officials and some experts say that the incidence of abuse in the military appears to be no higher than in society generally,and might be lower.

Complaints Increase

The number of complaints,though,is rising. Across the military,there were 2,908 reported cases of sexual abuse involving service members as victims or assailants,in the fiscal year that ended in September 2008. That was an 8 per cent increase from the previous year,when there were 2,688.

In the turbulent regions from Egypt to Afghanistan where most American combat troops are now deployed,the increase in reported cases was even sharper: 251 cases,compared with 174 the year before,a 44 per cent increase. The number in Iraq rose to 143,from 112 the year before. Everyone agrees that those represent only a fraction of the instances of assault,let alone harassment.

A woman in the military is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq, Representative Jane Harman,a Democrat from California,said at a Congressional hearing this year.

At least 10 per cent of the victims in the last year were men,a reality that the Pentagons task force said the armed services had done practically nothing to address in terms of counselling,treatment and prosecution. Men are considered even less likely to report attacks,officials said,because of the stigma,and fears that their own sexual orientation would be questioned. In the majority of the reported cases,the attacker was male.

The Pentagon,facing criticism,maintains that it has transformed the way it handles sexual abuse. In 2003,the Pentagon created a single agency to oversee the issue and rewrote the rules of reporting,treatment and prosecution. Beginning in October 2007,the Uniform Code of Military Justice expanded the provision that once covered rape to include other offenses,like indecent exposure and stalking.

The militarys efforts,however well intentioned,are often undermined by commanders who are skeptical or even conflicted,suspicious of accusations and fearful that reports of abuse reflect badly on their commands.

In Captain Whites case,she had to work and live beside the man who assaulted and stalked her until their deployment ended in August and they both went home. Youre in such a fishbowl, she said. You cant really get away from someone. You see him in the chow hall. You see him in the gym.