Army Brig Gen on trial for sexual assault

[meltoine]

Is there any way to really make up for the power differential in situations like this? How do you combat rampant sexual assault when generals are attacking their subordinates?

[audette]

Mar 12, 2014 10:33:04 GMT -5 @ojo said:

All I can think of is that the punishment needs to be debilitating.  Measures need to be in place to protect the person making the accusation (not sure how to handle the situations of false accusations, though...  I don't know the exact stats on it, but I'm pretty sure the incidents of false accusations are fairly low).  Senior people need to stop getting a slap on the wrist when it comes to SA.  Perhaps the bill about SA (another post says it just passed?  need to read that one, or the news, or something to find out it's status) will help, but I'm not sure it is enough.

Growing up in Canada, situations like this were automatically discussed as statutory rape, because there could be zero basis for consensual sex when one person held this type of power over the other.  I'm pretty sure it's not considered the same way in the US (sadly), but I think we need to move to a point where we consider all relationships between such disparate ranks as non-consensual unless otherwise proven.  In other words - the burden is on the defense to demonstrate that somehow equality was found in the personal relationship.

[meltoine]

Mar 12, 2014 17:38:07 GMT -5 audette said:

Mar 12, 2014 10:33:04 GMT -5 @ojo said:

Growing up in Canada, situations like this were automatically discussed as statutory rape, because there could be zero basis for consensual sex when one person held this type of power over the other.  I'm pretty sure it's not considered the same way in the US (sadly), but I think we need to move to a point where we consider all relationships between such disparate ranks as non-consensual unless otherwise proven.  In other words - the burden is on the defense to demonstrate that somehow equality was found in the personal relationship.

This is a really smart way to handle it.

[meltoine]

Well that sucks. Especially for the victim.

[audette]

Yep, pretty disgusted by the outcome. Not even a fraternization charge, if I read the article correctly. (how is it not fraternization when a general has an adulterous affair with a captain?!)

[audette]

Mar 17, 2014 17:41:44 GMT -5 @ojo said:

Mar 17, 2014 16:34:56 GMT -5 audette said:

Yep, pretty disgusted by the outcome. Not even a fraternization charge, if I read the article correctly. (how is it not fraternization when a general has an adulterous affair with a captain?!)

Fraternization is between an officer and enlisted.

Huh. For some reason I thought it was a catch-all for any overly large rank differential...

[audette]

Learn something new every day... Thanks!