Failing the chauvinism test

Dear Readers, Women live longer, are strong enough to endure labor, adjust to the inner turmoil their bodies throw at them, outperform males in school. True enough, if we compare the sexes on the standards of size and strength, men generally “win” by that comparison; but, those societies are strongest where women are at least as powerful and important as the male. Even in America, though, we cannot seem to quite get there.

I am not smart enough to explain why. Some blame “western” culture as an incubator of male chauvinism, e.g., every fall and winter Saturday and Sunday we see warrior impulses played out in packed stadiums on most of our television sets.

What we do know about modern society, a priori, is that there is a direct correlation between individual freedom and liberty and the level of respect visited on the gentler sex. This is true even amongst the “warrior classes.” Hence, in most of the Western World (slowly, even in the United States), women fight hand-in-hand with men – Israel being, perhaps, the prime example.

In theory, modern warfare shuns the raping and pillaging of women and hearth.

In our warring in Afghan, Pakistan, and Iraq, we did not rape or take local women as “sex slaves.” Or, better stated, soldiers that did this were prosecuted and, if enough evidence, sent to prison for having done so.

Yet, despite all of our cultural maturation about respect for women, there are still misogynist remnants of our reptilian consciousness. Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head by Taliban thugs, and left for dead, because she, a young woman, had the audacity to want an education. She survived, is now a refugee, living here in America, and a symbol of the future Pakistan free of its fear and ignorance. Last week, she visited the White House and spoke with President Obama about her quest for global education for all women. What a heroine and extraordinary person.

But, before we get too arrogant about how much more advanced we think we are about the treatment of women than a suspicious Pakistan, it would be best to look internally at the sins of our own warriors.

There, we find a subculture of American society where women in our military are more vulnerable than virtually anywhere else.

Male privilege, a male-power structure, and a moral culture of “boys will be boys,” dominate the ranks of all of our armed services.

The prosecution of sexual assault is hinged to command decisions, not prosecutorial discretion. Women accusers are shunned as interlopers in a man’s world. Lost in the gamesmanship of the government shutdown is a real problem that Washington needs to solve – making sure that the women serving our country enjoy the same rights we tell Pakistan it ought to give to all of its women citizens.

In the civilian world, female accusers of sexual assault are offered dignity and legal protections. Not so in the Courts Martial system of justice in the military world.

Just recently, a female midship woman, accusing three Naval Academy football players of a “gang” style rape at a “toga party,” spent 30 hours being cross-examined at a preliminary hearing called an “Article 32 proceeding.” Most entire trials, even rapes, do not last 30 hours and this poor woman is being torn to pieces at just an accusatory process? It is almost inconceivable that she would be willing to endure a similar experience, if this case ever makes it to an actual trial.

This is reprehensible. We should be just as ashamed about what goes on here on our soil, as Pakistanis should be ashamed that Ms. Yousafzai was brought to death’s door merely for wanting to learn.

Our problem remains unsolved because the military, as it always does, has lobbied Congress to not upset the command structure. Apologists argue either that the cancer of sexual assaults of female service members is overblown or that it requires an internal fix, as opposed to new rules imposed from Congress. This is not good enough.

If modern societies should be judged fairly by how all pockets of authority treat women, our military is failing this test. Change needs to come … Now is not soon enough.

Local attorney Jim Rockefeller owns the Rockefeller Law Center and is a former Houston Co. Chief Assistant District Attorney, and a former Miami Prosecutor. Visit www.rockefellerlawcenter.com to submit confidential legal questions, and to review former articles and Frequently Asked Questions.

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