Friday, August 01, 2008

Female US Soldiers Raped at Alarming Rate

Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow
soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.




This is a very sad quote from the LA Times article I've linked above. But one thought went through my head when I heard this story yesterday, "Duh."

I don't mean to be crude or uncaring, because I'm not in the least. Rape is deplorable. Rapists should be prosecuted and jailed as long as possible because the act shows a complete lack of humanity.

When men are in combat situations, in country, what's something they are deprived of? I'll give you a hint, it's a God-given, basic human desire. That's right, it's sex. And while someone is away from their spouse, girlfriend, or what-have-you for 12-15 months at a time, that is something that they are deprived of.

So our sex-deprived soldiers take extreme measures to satisfy this need. In Vietnam it became common for US soldiers to spend time with local prostitutes or even to father children by Vietnamese women. Some of which they married, some of which stayed behind.

From my understanding, rape was common when soldiers were invading another country that they rape the women. Much of that was simply violence, but that's what a war zone is all about. And now these men have another avenue to quench both their violence and their need for sex.

That's not justification. And it's not a backhanded argument against women in the military. It's just a theory of mine as to why this is common. God willing it will stop.

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