Violence Against Women in the Military - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), August, 2001

Factors within the military workplace environment are significantly associated with the risk of non-fatal physical and sexual assault toward women in the armed forces, according to University of Iowa and Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) researchers. The study, involving more than 500 female veterans, finds that environmental factors such as the behavior of superior officers may promote violence toward women and were highly associated with whether or not those in the military were assaulted during their time of service.

"With more than one-half million females serving in the U.S. Department of Defense, military women are an important population from which to learn more about women in the workplace and the consequences of violence," notes Anne Sadler, a registered nurse and researcher at the Iowa City VAMC, who designed and headed the study. Bradley Doebbeling, associate professor of internal medicine and epidemiology and a staff physician and researcher at the VAMC, says the environmental risk factors for assault found in this study seem to be comparable to risk factors in nonmilitary settings. "This suggests that, if harassment is allowed in the workplace, it predisposes women in those environments to assault."

The researchers interviewed 537 women veterans nationwide who served in the Vietnam, post-Vietnam, and Persian Gulf War eras. Participants completed an extensive structured interview to determine socioeconomic and environmental factors associated with victimization and its consequences while in the military. Seventy-nine percent reported experiences of sexual harassment during their military service; 54%, unwanted sexual contact; 21%, physical violence solely within the context of rape; and 36%, threatened or completed physical assault (30% completed), with 23% citing physical assault outside the context of rape or domestic violence. Fifty-nine percent of those who said they had been physically assaulted indicated at least two occurrences; some women reported as many as 20.

Environmental risk factors related to violence towards women were present in on- and off-duty base settings. Those who worked in environments where sexual harassment occurred were five times more likely to be physically assaulted. Females working with ranking officers who made sexually demeaning comments, or allowed such behavior, were three times more likely to be victims of physical assault.

Women who stayed in mixed-gender barracks and experienced unwanted sexual advances, remarks, or pressure for dates from men in their sleeping quarters were found to be almost seven times more likely to be physically assaulted. In absence of harassment, mixed-gender quarters were not a significant risk factor in such physical assaults.

Another research study by Sadler and Doebbeling discovered unique health-related effects of workplace physical and/or sexual assault that could influence reasons why female veterans seek health care. For example, those who were physically and sexually assaulted during their military service were more likely to report chronic health conditions and use of prescription drugs for mental health problems. Women who experienced dual victimization reported the poorest health status, similar to that of females with a major medical illness.