I wasn’t able to attend the WRC’s meeting about the military’s “rape culture,” but I received the e-mail about it and then read your coverage of it in the paper today.

This particular discussion of whether a “rape culture” exists in the military leaves out some significant points. For starters, the reported rate of women being sexually assaulted “anywhere from 9 to 70 percent” is not exactly a hard-hitting statistic. Not to mention they allege that the military actually fosters this so-called culture, but the article doesn’t say how (I stopped at the WRC today to speak with Ms. Bruhn, but she wasn’t available; of note, I was told that she never served in the military).

Since the discussion was held by the WRC, I understand their approaching it from what they consider a woman’s perspective (whether factual or not), but it’s hardly the whole picture.

Perhaps it should occur to someone that the reason the end result of a report is not trial and punishment is that the whole thing is a farce, not that the woman felt pressured to not press charges.

The e-mail I received stated that a woman is more likely to be raped than killed in Iraq. That’s interesting, but in relation to a male being killed, can someone give me the odds that he is falsely accused of rape?

In cases of rape, it should be reported and the perpetrator should be charged. But if there is a “rape culture” in the military, it is not unprofessional males condoning and promoting such behavior; it is unprofessional females who take advantage of the fact that we are the minority and use it as a destructive tool if they decide they just don’t like someone, or wish they hadn’t done something that they did (as someone is quoted in the article, a female can hold tremendous power over a male’s career with such an allegation). And it’s a shame, because the culture they’ve created makes it harder for a female who actually is a victim of sexual violence to get the justice she deserves.

HD Hentbrook

Sophomore Political Science Major

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