Tag: sexual assault

Why the ROK Military Has A Sexual Assault Issue

Here is an editorial in the Korea Herald in regards to the sex crime issue currently plaguing the ROK military:

military sexual assault

The recent comments made by the Saenuri lawmaker Song Young-keun in relation to a sexual assault case in the military reveal why the country’s military is plagued by sexual crimes and misconducts.

Remarking on a case in which a brigade commander sexually assaulted a female NCO, Song, a retired Army Lt. Gen. who served as the commander of the defense security command, said that the brigade commander rarely went off base and suggested that the man, in his mid-40s, could have suffered from sexual frustration as a result.

The remark is deeply offensive to both men and women. Suggesting that men might commit sex crimes because of unresolved sexual needs debases men as creatures that are compelled to act upon impulse. It is bad enough that the sex crime occurred in the military, where discipline is a priority, but Song’s comment brings great dishonor to all men in the military.

Song’s comments also betray his attitude toward women ― as sexual objects ― that condones sexual violence committed against women. Song further incensed women by referring to the victim as the “sergeant agassi” which can be translated as “sergeant miss.” The usage of the word “agassi” fell out of public favor long ago as women find the term to be pejorative. In fact the term has limited usage today, often used in bars or room salons to refer to a bar hostess.

That a three-star general harbors such attitudes about women and sex crimes is greatly alarming. It is just such attitudes and thinking that perpetuate sex crimes in the military.

It is most unfortunate that Song was part of a National Assembly special committee charged with improving human rights in the military and revamping the military culture. He resigned from the committee on Jan. 30 “taking responsibility for causing trouble with inappropriate remarks.” However, more problematic than the remarks are the deeply embedded attitude toward about sex crimes and sexual objectification of women that the remarks revealed.

Perhaps such attitudes run deep in the military. Perhaps that is why some laughable guidelines ― men and women may not be in a car by themselves, men and women should only use one hand each when shaking hands ― have been suggested by the military in its effort to prevent sex crimes.

The military needs more than such superficial guidelines. It should create an atmosphere where men and women in the military can fight side by side as comrades in arms, regardless of gender. Regular gender equality training could be a starting point.  [Korea Herald]

Everything in the editorial is fair enough, but to really see changes in the ROK military in regards to women than there needs to be changes in Korean society as well.  Servicemembers do not enter the military and suddenly put aside all their sexist beliefs they learned while being a civilian when they put on the uniform.  A culture of not treating women as second class citizens and sex objects needs to be changed well before someone enters the military.  To be fair much has changed for the positive in regards to the treatment of women in Korea over the years and I expect these improvements to continue.

ROK Military Releases New Guidelines to Prevent Sexual Assaults

The measures the ROK Army is taking to stop sex crimes is even stricter than anything we have seen in the US Army yet:

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The Army is scrambling to come up with a new code of behavior in response to a recent series of sex crimes in barracks.

“A top brass meeting held on Tuesday decided to work out a code of conduct to cope with sex crimes,” an Army spokesman said Thursday. “It will be issued in the name of the Army chief of staff and violators will be subject to punishment under military law.”

Male or female soldiers will be banned from visiting the quarters of soldiers of the opposite sex alone. Soldiers of different genders will only be allowed to shake hands with one hand.

Soldiers of different ranks will be prohibited from dating, and no soldier will be allowed to travel, or stay in the same office, alone with another of the opposite sex. When it is inevitable that they are alone in the same office, they must leave the door open.  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read more at the link.

ROK Army NCO Investigated for Raping Subordinate

Maybe this is just a translation error, but does anyone know how does the ROK Army have 18-year old Staff Sergeants?

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A South Korean Army sergeant was arrested Thursday on charges of repeated sexual assaults of an 18-year-old solider, local media reported.

The 26-year-old sergeant first class, identified only as Kim, is accused of having raped his junior colleague, a staff sergeant who is also male, several times since March this year.  [Korea Observer]

You can read more at the link.

Some Military Sex Offenders Not Showing Up In Civilian Database

This is something both the military and civilian law enforcement need to work together to fix to make it harder for weirdos like this guy to continue to carry out their strange fantasy against other people:

Matthew S. Carr is the type of serial sex offender public registries were designed to track.

While serving in the U.S. Air Force, Carr approached women by posing as a doctor training in gynecology. He persuaded them to submit to pelvic exams as he inserted medical instruments, drew blood samples and even administered an injection near one victim’s genitals.

A military court at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota convicted the airman in 2003 of indecent assault against seven women and sentenced him to seven years in prison.

Exactly how Carr avoided registering as a sex offender when he got out is unclear, but a critical error occurred. The military records sent to civilian authorities mistakenly described lesser assault charges, according to a federal probation officer.

When the mother of a Reedsburg, Wis., woman typed “Matthew Carr” — the name of her daughter’s new boyfriend — into sex offender registries in the summer of 2010, nothing turned up.

She soon found herself racing the 45 minutes to Reedsburg to confront Carr after another daughter’s research revealed his military crimes. By then, her daughter had already submitted to multiple “exams” by the convicted sex offender.

“My blood turned absolutely cold,” said the mother, whom Scripps is not identifying to protect her daughter’s privacy. “I’ve never felt such danger, such helplessness as a mom before.”

Charges were brought against Carr, and he was convicted and sent to prison.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but I always wondered if servicemembers convicted of DUI or assault for example in Korea have such crimes show up on criminal background checks back in the US as well.

Korean Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Jail for Using Offensive Language

It seems like this guy needs to see a psychologist instead of going to prison:

A man is to face jail time for sexually harassing a call service operator working for a telemarketing company.

The man, identified as Park, age 49, had initially requested to be connected to a specific line, when the operator explained such services could not be provided.

Park then started lashing out at the operator in foul language, using words “objectifying women,” according to Yonhap News Agency.

He was reported to have called 9,982 times since May last year, using offensive speech.

Various other workers at the telemarketing company also said they felt “humiliated.”

The Seoul Central Criminal Court sentenced Park to 18 months in prison after finding him guilty of sexual violence and work disturbance on Oct. 15.

He is sentence also included 80 hours of mandatory participation in a program on sexual violence.  [Korea Times]

To me it is amazing that a guy that did not commit a violent act was convicted of sexual violence and sentenced to 18 months in prison just because he used offensive speech over the telephone.

Suwon Teenagers Kidnap Girl and Force Her to Commit Sex Acts & Eat Feces

This is seriously messed up stuff here:

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Prosecutors indicted three teenagers on charges of sexually and physically abusing a 15-year-old high school girl, local media reported Sunday.

Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office found that a 16-year-old girl broke into the victim’s house with her two teen friends and brutally assaulted her on Aug. 8 for speaking ill of her.

The victim and one of the perpetrators were classmates.

The three perpetrators allegedly dragged her out of the house and locked her in the basement of a deserted building for five days.

The victim was stripped of her clothes and forced to engage in “pseudo-sex” while being photographed. Moreover, the perpetrators forced the 15-year-old victim to eat her own excrement, swallow cigarette butts and lick their spit off the floor.  [Korea Observer]

You can read more at the link, but hopefully these teenagers receive very harsh punishment for this horrible crime and not get off light like the teenagers involved in the Miryang gang rape case a few years ago.

General Forced to Retire After Sexual Assault Allegation

A US Army general was forced to retire at a reduced rank due to a sexual assault accusation:

A general fired in March 2013 after allegations he sexually assaulted a female civilian adviser said that while he denies the charges, he “accepts the responsibility for becoming intoxicated that evening” and that “due process was followed.”

Then-Maj. Gen. Ralph O. Baker was relieved of his post as head of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa after the investigation, a copy of which was provided recently to The Washington Post via a request under the Freedom of Information Act and served as the basis of an Oct. 1 report. The Army did not respond by press time to a subsequent Army Times request for the investigation.

The Post, citing military documents, outlined the accuser’s account of an alleged July 22, 2012, incident in the back of an SUV headed to Camp Lemmonier, Djibouti, after a private party. She said Baker, who’d been drinking, put his hand between her legs. She said she fought off the alleged advances and reported the incident to the Defense Department inspector general the following January, according to the Post, after feeling too embarrassed to notify any other passengers in the vehicle. (Army Times)

You can read more at the link, but here are some quick thoughts. First of all the accusation did not bring criminal charges likely because it was another one of those he said she said cases especially since she told no one in the car of what she claims happened to her. Secondly the term sexual assault has been furthered cheapened. Having someone put their hand up your thigh is inappropriate, but should it be equated with violent rape? Thirdly why is this general drinking and fraternizing with subordinates on a deployment?  I am willing to bet that is the real reason for his relief since there was no evidence of the inappropriate contact in the vehicle by the General.  With that all said good riddance to this General because the Army does not need senior leaders that think they are still reliving their frat house fraternity days.

Krusinski Receives Likely Career Ending Reprimand After Assault Acquital

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who have been following the Krusinski case:

The Air Force has decided to punish a former sexual assault prevention officer accused of groping a woman outside a Washington-area restaurant last year by issuing him a letter of reprimand rather than pursue a court-martial, according to an Air Force document obtained by Stars and Stripes.

The disposition decision by Col. Bill Knight, the commander of the 11th Wing, “was based primarily on the fact that [Lt. Col. Jeffrey] Krusinski had already been acquitted during his civilian trial,” according to the document, which is being reviewed.

A letter of reprimand “is designed to improve, correct and instruct those who depart from standards of performance, conduct, bearing and integrity and whose actions degrade the individual and the unit’s mission,” according to the Air Force.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read more at the link, but Krusinski’s career is obviously over.  Considering the alternatives I am sure he is happy with being able to retire once he reaches 20 years of service.  It will be interesting to see if the Air Force decides to make him retire as a Major though which would be a huge financial loss for him for a crime that he was acquitted of.

Critics Fail To Strip Military Commanders of their Prosecution Power Over Sex Crimes

Commanders will be allowed to keep their authority:

In a dramatic hearing Wednesday focused on sexual assault in the military, the Senate Armed Services Committee knocked down an effort to strip military commanders of oversight in the prosecution of serious crimes by their subordinates.

The 17-9 committee vote to leave prosecutions within the chain of command cut across party lines, and represented a victory for the Pentagon. Leaders including Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and each of the service chiefs have argued that military commanders are best able stem a tide of sexual assaults that Defense Department statistics indicate has been rising in recent years.

But a senator who voted to maintain the status quo, Maine independent Sen. Angus King, warned that legislators would have little choice but to reduce the authority of commanders in criminal cases if the Pentagon doesn’t quickly reverse the trend.

“In a sense, I see this as a last chance for the chain of command to get it right,” King said.  [Stars & Stripes]

You can read much more at the link, but I respectfully disagree with Senator King’s statement.  As I have already shown the statistics for military sexual assaults last year were inflated due to adding assaults from prior years to the 2012 statistics along with other reasons such as an increase in baseless claims.  The military has made a big effort in recent years to get people to report sexual assaults and her statement runs counter to this.  So instead of trying to count every report there is, the military for the 2013 statistics can show improvement by just recalculating their statistics.  They can do this by just including reports from 2013 and reports from prior years would be counted to the year’s that they happened.  This would show instant progress and not bring attention to reports people filed from prior years.

Something that has changed is this:

Levin’s amendment would set up an appeals system that would give service secretaries the final say on commanders’ prosecution decisions, and makes it a crime to retaliate against those who report sexual assault.

Gillibrand said the time to let the military solve its own sexual assault problem had passed.

“The chain of command has told us for decades that they would solve this problem, and they have failed,” she said.

Gillibrand argued that the amendment does not address the main problem — a climate of fear faced by sexual assault victims when considering whether to report a crime to a commander who may be biased in favor of a higher-ranking perpetrator.

I do not have a problem with Levin’s amendment though I would like to see how retaliate is defined.  For example if someone files a report that is considered baseless can they not be prosecuted for filing a false report?  As far Congresswoman Gillibrand’s complaint it runs counter to the facts that show commanders are overwhelming prosecuting servicemembers under their command for sexual assault even when the evidence does not support a prosecution.  There are servicemembers that had to be released from jail by the US Court of Appeals due to having their Constitutional rights to a fair trial trampled on by the witch hunt against anyone accused of sexual assault.  In the article even Congresswoman McCaskill had to cede this point.  Anyway this issue is not over, expect the special interests to try and bring it up again next year, but hopefully the Pentagon gets their act together on how they compile the statistics so they do not give the special interests ammunition to bash them with.