Source: Reuters
SEOUL, Aug 16 (Reuters) – North Korea has concluded that U.S. soldier Travis King wants refuge there or elsewhere because of “inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination” in the U.S. and the military, state media said on Wednesday.
It was the North’s first public acknowledgement of the army private’s crossing from South Korea on July 18 while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA) on the heavily fortified border between the neighbours.
“During the investigation, Travis King confessed that he had decided to come over to the DPRK as he harbored ill feeling against inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination within the U.S. Army,” KCNA said, using the North’s official name. “He also expressed his willingness to seek refugee in the DPRK or a third country, saying that he was disillusioned at the unequal American society.”
This is in no way an attempt to prove the innocence of Travis King but a deeper look into a issue that is consistently ignored.
According to Stars and Strips article published By JOHN VANDIVER February 9, 2021
Black, Hispanic and Asian troops report “significantly higher” rates of suicide attempts than their white counterparts, a new study that examined mental health disparities within the ranks has found.
Although there were no widespread differences between races and ethnicities in terms of overall behavioral health, the disparities in attempted suicide rates warrant Defense Department attention, the nonprofit research group Rand Corp. said in a recent report.
Rand recommended the Pentagon “consider focusing attention on suicide attempts, particularly among non-Hispanic black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic Asian military personnel.”
The higher rate of suicide attempts among Black and Hispanic troops when compared to whites is at odds with the pattern found in the civilian world, Rand said.
There were 1.76 suicide attempts among Black troops for each by a white service member. Outside the military, for every white civilian suicide attempt there were .31 attempts by Black civilians, the report stated. Hispanic troops were more likely than white troops to attempt suicide at a similar rate, the study found.
Overall, 2.6% of survey respondents reported a suicide attempt after joining the military.
Rand used various models to analyze the data and “found that, in comparison with white service members, non-Hispanic Asian and non-Hispanic black service members reported significantly higher likelihood of suicide attempt.”
Discrimination and family conflict are among the risk factors identified in the civilian world for suicide attempts among minorities.
“Understanding whether these risk factors as well as other military specific factors (e.g., unit cohesion, leadership support) contribute to the observed racial/ethnic minority disparities in suicide attempt among military personnel would enable DoD to potentially better target suicide prevention efforts directed as these at-risk groups,” Rand said.
According to a public administration review published in January 2022 Using data from a large-scale and representative survey of military members, we find that nearly one in five Black women in the military (17.9%) experienced sexual harassment in 2018. Our findings further detail Black women’s sexual harassment experiences and advance the discourse on the need to address sexual harassment in the workplace through an intersectional lens in order to design more inclusive prevention and response programs and policies. For example, inclusive programs should proactively account for the experiences of Black women in the design and evaluation of prevention and response efforts.
1 out of every 5 Black women in the military (17.9%) experienced sexual harassment in 2018.
Fast Facts about Military Sexual Violence
- Sexual harassment in the military is alarmingly high: In 2018, there were 20,500 reported cases of service members that were sexually assaulted or raped, including 13,000 women. In a briefing obtained by PBS NewsHour, the Army admitted that soldiers are more likely to be raped by someone of their own uniform than to be shot by the enemy.
- The vast majority of cases go unreported. 76% of survivors did not report a crime from 2017 to 2018. Over 1 in 4 survivors who did not report feared retaliation.
- Retaliation is pervasive. 73% of retaliation reports alleged that retaliators were in the reporter’s chain of command.
- The power imbalance is clear. The majority of survivors were harassed by someone in their chain of command and two-thirds of service-members who reported retaliation after filing a sexual assault complaint were women.
- Our national security is at risk.More than 1 in 4 survivors of sexual assault or harassment/discrimination took steps to leave the military as a result, undermining force readiness.
How do we address sexual harassment in the military?
First, we need to overhaul the military’s approach to combatting sexual harassment assault. The current system, which puts commanding officers in charge of prosecuting sexual assault cases, is clearly not working. Because the chain of command is involved in prosecution process, survivors are often afraid to report sexual assault or harassment out of fear of retaliation or because of lack of faith in the system due to inherent conflicts of interest.
It’s time for these decisions to be taken out of the chain of command and instead place this authority in the hands of independent authorities. This approach has been endorsed by the independent review commission created by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
In April 2020, the death of Specialist Vanessa Guillen–a service member at the Fort Hood military base who was murdered after being sexually harassed– brought attention to the issue of sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. military. A formal examination of the circumstances of her death made it clear that this was not an isolated incident at Fort Hood, but rather a pervasive issue throughout the armed forces.
In response, the Army launched a three-month independent review at Fort Hood, which ultimately found that the command culture and climate within the armed forces was ineffective in preventing assaults and protecting vulnerable personnel — especially women and women of color.
The Biden administration and members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have signaled they are serious about addressing harassment and assault in the military.
- The Bipartisan Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act — cosponsored by Senator Gillibrand (D-NY) and Senator Ernst (R-IA) — is an important first step. The Act would create an impartial, fair, and accountable military justice system for sexual assault and other serious crimes, as well as provide additional prevention measures. Specifically, it would change how the military prosecutes serious crimes and move the prosecution out of the chain of command and under the authority of trained, independent military prosecutors.
- The Biden-Harris administration launched a 90-day commission–led by Lynn Rosenthal, the first-ever White House Advisor on Violence Against Women under President Obama–to propose policies, programs, and policies to fix the broken system that has allowed sexual harassment and assault to persist, with little consequence, for far too long.
- Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks — the highest-ranking woman to ever serve at the Pentagon — will lead a new task force on diversity and inclusion within the military, among other issues.
- President Biden’s newest COVID-relief package includes funding for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence — an historic investment that will ensure the safety of survivors and prevention.
As the nation’s largest workplace, addressing sexual assault in the military is critical to ensuring safer and more equitable work environments for all— in addition to ensuring force readiness, retention, and military effectiveness. We join advocates in calling for long overdue action to ensure our service members are treated with the respect and dignity they deserve.
Where are our black leaders?
