United States of America

Citation:

Yaeger, Deborah, Naomi Himmelfarb, Alison Cammack, and Jim Mintz. 2006. “DSM-IV Diagnosed Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Women Veterans With and Without Military Sexual Trauma.” Journal of General Internal Medicine 21(3): 65-69.

Authors: Deborah Yaeger, Naomi Himmelfarb, Alison Cammack, Jim Mintz

Abstract:

BACKGROUND: This study compares rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in female veterans who had military sexual trauma (MST) with rates of PTSD in women veterans with all other types of trauma.

METHODS: Subjects were recruited at the Women’s Comprehensive Healthcare Center when attending medical or psychiatric appointments or through a mailing; 230 women agreed and 196 completed the study. They completed questionnaires on health and military history, along with the Stressful Life Events Questionnaire (SLEQ). Those who met DSM-IV PTSD Criterion A completed the PTSD Symptom Scale-Interview (PSS-I) on which PTSD diagnoses were based.

RESULTS: Ninety-two percent reported at least 1 trauma. Forty-one percent had MST, alone or with other trauma, and 90% had other trauma, with or without MST. Overall, 43% of subjects with trauma had PTSD. Those with MST had higher rates of PTSD than those with other trauma. Sixty percent of those with MST had PTSD; 43% of subjects with other traumas (with or without MST) had PTSD. Military sexual trauma and other trauma both significantly predicted PTSD in regression analyses (P=.0001 and .02, respectively) but MST predicted it more strongly. Prior trauma did not contribute to the relationship between MST and PTSD.

DISCUSSION: Findings suggest that MST is common and that it is a trauma especially associated with PTSD.

Keywords: PTSD, military sexual trauma, women's health

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Health, Mental Health, PTSD, Trauma, Humanitarian Assistance, Context-Appropriate Response to Trauma, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2006

Citation:

Miller, Laura L., and Charles Moskos. 1995. “Humanitarians or Warriors?: Race, Gender, and Combat Status in Operation Restore Hope.” Armed Forces & Society 21 (4): 615-637.

Authors: Laura L. Miller, Charles Moskos

Abstract:

Operation Restore Hope was a confusing mission for American soldiers. Trained as warriors, they were thrust into a humanitarian mission. Expecting to distribute food to grateful Somalis, they were attacked instead by the locals and were limited to security and guard duty. Soldiers' attitudes evolved through three stages: high expectations, disillusionment, and reconsideration. In the last stage, soldiers adopted one of two frameworks to cope with the ambiguity of the mission: warrior versus humanitarian. The former was more strongly associated with whites, men, and combat soldiers, who constructed negative stereotypes of Somalis and favored returning violence with violence. Blacks, women, and support soldiers tended to reject victim-blaming arguments seemingly imported from the United States. They maintained a humanitarian position, seeking explanations for Somali actions and distinguishing between clan warriors and needy refugees. Our data come from field observations, interviews, and surveys of Army troops who served in Somalia.

Keywords: humanitarian mission, combatants, race, Gender, Operation Restore Hope, American soldiers, Somali refugees

Topics: Combatants, Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Humanitarian Assistance, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Race Regions: Africa, East Africa, Americas, North America Countries: Somalia, United States of America

Year: 1995

Citation:

Coyne, Christopher. 2011. “The Political Economy of the Creeping Militarization of US Foreign Policy.” Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy 17 (1): 1-25.

Author: Christopher Coyne

Abstract:

This paper analyzes the political economy of the creeping militarization of U.S. foreign policy. The core argument is that in integrating the "3D" approach‚ (defense, development, and diplomacy) policymakers have assigned responsibilities to military personnel which go beyond their comparative advantage, requiring them to become social engineers tasked with constructing entire societies. Evidence from The U.S. Army Stability Operations Field Manual is presented to illustrate the wide scope of responsibilities assigned to the U.S. military. The tools of political economy are used to analyze some of the implications.

Keywords: 3D approach, US military, foreign policy, U.S. foreign policy, militarization

Topics: Development, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Militarization, Political Economies Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2011

Citation:

Cockburn, Cynthia. 2007. From Where We Stand: War, Women's Activism and Feminist Analysis. New York: Zed Books.

Author: Cynthia Cockburn

Abstract:

The product of 80,000 miles of travel by the author over a two-year period, this original study examines women's activism against wars as far apart as Sierra Leone, Colombia and India. It shows women on different sides of conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and Israel refusing enmity and co-operating for peace. It describes international networks of women opposing US and Western European militarism and the so-called 'war on terror'. Women are often motivated by adverse experiences in male-led anti-war movements, preferring to choose different methods of protest and remain in control of their own actions. But like the mainstream movements, women's groups differ - some are pacifist while others put justice before non-violence; some condemn nationalism as a cause of war while others see it as a legitimate source of identity. The very existence of feminist antimilitarism proposes a radical shift in our understanding of war, linking the violence of patriarchal power to that of class oppression and ethnic 'othering'.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Society, Class, Ethnicity, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gender Analysis, Gendered Power Relations, Patriarchy, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Nonviolence, Peacebuilding, Political Participation, Race, Terrorism, Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa, Americas, North America, South America, Asia, South Asia, Europe, Western Europe Countries: Colombia, India, Sierra Leone, United States of America

Year: 2007

Citation:

Marshall, Lucinda. 2011. "Rape as a Weapon of War in Libya: New Permutations on an Old Theme." Peace and Freedom 71 (2): 24.

Author: Lucinda Marshall

Abstract:

Earlier this year, when reports began to surface alleging the use of Viagra-like drugs to encourage Libyan troops to rape women as a tactic in their fight with Libyan rebels, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) called for a complete investigation into the charges, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was "deeply concerned." In Iraq, the number of honor killings rose dramatically after the U.S. invasion and, more recently, in Tehran, women protesting the government have been attacked. In Congo, women in refugee camps are gang-raped with impunity. In Burma, the army uses rape as a weapon of terror in their fight with Shan forces. In Bosnia and Rwanda, there were mass rapes. In the U.S. military, female soldiers are more likely to be attacked by male soldiers than by any enemy. One hundred forty-eight countries signed The Rome Statute, which established the Court. Seven nations voted against it, including the U.S. and Libya. It is therefore supremely ironic that the U.S. pushed for the ICC s prosecution of Libyan war crimes. But make no mistake, the U.S. does not consider itself bound by the ICC s jurisdiction, which would leave it quite obviously vulnerable to prosecution for such things as Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and the rape of servicewomen within the ranks of its own military.

Keywords: sexual violence, international criminal court, rape, war rape

Annotation:

Topics: Armed Conflict, Displacement & Migration, Refugee/IDP Camps, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, International Law, International Criminal Law, Justice, Impunity, War Crimes, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security, Sexual Violence, Rape, SV against Women Regions: Africa, North Africa, Americas, North America Countries: Libya, United States of America

Year: 2011

Citation:

Kimerling, Rachel, Kristian Gima, Mark W. Smith, Amy Street and Susan Frayne. 2007. "The Veterans’ Health Administration and Military Sexual Trauma." American Journal of Public Health 97 (12): 2160-66.

Authors: Rachel Kimerling, Kristian Gima, Mark W. Smith, Amy Street, Susan Frayne

Abstract:

We examined the utility of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) universal screening program for military sexual violence.

Methods. We analyzed VHA administrative data for 185880 women and 4139888 men who were veteran outpatients and were treated in VHA health care settings nationwide during 2003. Results. Screening was completed for 70% of patients. Positive screens were associated with greater odds of virtually all categories of mental health comorbidities, including posttraumatic stress disorder (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 8.83; 99% confidence interval [CI] = 8.34, 9.35 for women; AOR = 3.00; 99% CI = 2.89, 3.12 for men). Associations with medical comorbidities (e.g., chronic pulmonary disease, liver disease, and for women, weight conditions) were also observed. Significant gender differences emerged.

Conclusions. The VHA policies regarding military sexual trauma represent a uniquely comprehensive health care response to sexual trauma. Results attest to the feasibility of universal screening, which yields clinically significant information with particular relevance to mental health and behavioral health treatment. Women's health literature regarding sexual trauma will be particularly important to inform health care services for both male and female veterans.

Keywords: sexual violence, military, health

Annotation:

Quotes:

"The risk of exposure to sexual violence within the military is high. The annual incidence of experiencing sexual assault is 3% among active duty women and 1% among active duty men. Sexual coercion (e.g., quid pro quo promises of job benefits or threats of job loss) and unwanted sexual attention (e.g., touching, fondling, or threatening attempts to initiate a sexual relationship) occur at an annual rate of 8% and 27%, respectively, among women and 1 % and 5% among men." (Kimerling et al., 2160)

"To our knowledge, we are the first to study the VHA's MST program, which  provides an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the feasibility and clinical utility of screening for sexual violence and provides unique data to characterize the burden of illness associated with MST." (Kimerling et al., 2160)

"The approach to MST should therefore attend to both women and men and examine gender associated with MST as an initial step in the development of gender-specific interventions. Ours is the first examination of nationwide screening data for MST in the VHA and directly informs continued efforts to develop a gender-specific response to the health-related costs of military service and war. Specifically, we examined 3 issues: (1) whether universal screening detects a substantial population of VHA patients who report MST, (2) whether a greater burden of medical and mental illness is found among patients who screen positive for MST compared with patients who screen negative, and (3) whether the burden of illness associated with MST varies by patient gender." (Kimerling et al., 2161)

"The VHA universal screening program for MST screened over 70% of all patients, a rate commensurate with other screening-related performance measures collected by VHA in the same fiscal year: 80% for alcohol screening, 75% for tobacco counseling, and 90% for cervical cancer screening. Screening data indicate that MST is prevalent among veterans who seek VA health care, and as such, represents an important issue for VHA facilities." (Kimerling et al., 2163)

"Approximately 22% of screened veteran women reported MST, which represents 29418 patients. Sexual trauma, including MST, is often viewed as primarily a women's health issue and the proportion of positive screens among male patients is significantly lower than among women, only slightly over 1 %. However, because the majority of VHA patients are men, this prevalence results in a detected clinical population of 31 797 patients, comparable in size to the MST population of female patients." (Kimerling et al., 2163)

"The diagnosis of PTSD, however, is more common among women veterans with a military sexual trauma than among those who report other traumatic events or other sexual assaults. Furthermore, the effects of previous trauma or civilian sexual assault do not account for the strong relation observed between MST and PTSD.'" (Kimerling et al., 2164)

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Male Combatants, Gender, Women, Men, Health, Mental Health, PTSD, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Sexual Violence Regions: Americas, North America Countries: United States of America

Year: 2007