Friday, May 17, 2013

Tell CBS News stalking is not "a domestic dispute"

As Marcia noted last night, yet another man in the military placed in charge of a unit that's supposed to prevent sexual harassment and assault has run afoul of the law.  Lt Col Darin Haas of Fort Campbell has been relieved of his post following his arrest.  The first of the three was Air Force Lt Col Jeff Kruinski whose arrest surfaced two Mondays ago.  In between there was the officer over Fort Hood.

Senator Patty Murray serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, Chairs the Senate Budget Committee and  she and Senator Kelly Ayotte have cosponsored "Combating Military Sexual Assault (MSA) Act of 2013."  In her remarks, which you can view video of here,.  Her office issued the following late Tuesday:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                          

Tuesday, May 14, 2013              
 CONTACT: Murray Press Office
202-224-2834

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) released the following statement in response to reports that a sexual assault prevention officer at Fort Hood has been charged with sexual misconduct:

"This is sickening. Twice now, in a matter of as many weeks, we've seen the very people charged with protecting victims of sexual assault being charged as perpetrators. It's an astonishing reminder that the Pentagon has both a major problem on its hands and a tremendous amount of work to do to assure victims - who already only report a small fraction of sexual assaults - that they are changing the culture around these heinous crimes. Secretary Hagel needs to act swiftly to reexamine sexual assault services across the Department to ensure that these disturbing betrayals of trust are ended. Its also time for Congress to move on legislation like the bipartisan bill that Senator Ayotte and I introduced last week that gives victims the protections they deserve to seek justice and that gives the Pentagon tools to deal with this growing crisis."

###
@PattyMurray | @SenateBudget | @MegRoh

Senator Patty Murray's office
 
Senator Murray's YouTube Channel
 
Senator Murray's Press Office Twitter Account
 
RSS Feed for Senator Murray's office

David Martin (CBS News -- video and text) reports on the topic for CBS This Morning.  David Martin needs some training.  He needs some training or he needs to be pulled off this story.  At the end of his report, noting the latest arrest he states, "arrested for stalking his ex-wife. Now that is domestic dispute, not sexual assault."

"Domestic dispute" is one of the many ways that violence against women has been 'softened' for consumption, has been perpetuated.

It's a problem, we're told, between husband and wife -- actually, we're usually told between "man and wife."  Like "man and dog."  A wife's a possession and the sparkly thing got 'out of line' so the owner just had to 'correct' it, like you would a dog.  Only if you did it to a dog today, they would be calling it a crime on TV.  As they should.

David Martin's a throw back and doesn't even realize it.

Violence against spouses is not a "domestic dispute."  A domestic dispute is a couple disagreeing at loud volume and neighbors complaining about the volume.  When one spouse assaults the other, that's a crime.  The same way it is when a person beats a dog.

Here's the thing, David Martin, there are no "domestic disputes" between ex-spouses. There is no home together.  As Katharine Hepburn's Tracy Lord says in The Philadelphia Story, "I thought it was for life but the nice judge gave me a full pardon."


Stalking is a crime.


January was National Stalking Awareness month, David Martin must have missed that.


December 31, 2012, President Barack Obama spoke on this matter noting, "The perpetrator is usually someone the victim knows. Stalking behaviors may appear innocuous to outside observers, but victims often endure intense physical and emotional distress that affects every aspect of their lives. Many feel forced to move, or change jobs. Tragically, stalking tends to escalate over time, and it is sometimes followed by sexual assault or homicide."


Stalking is a crime.


Calling it a "domestic dispute" makes it sound so much more tame, doesn't it?


As Barack noted, stalking tends to escalate -- often becoming assault or homicide.  (Here to read his full statement on stalking.)


David Martin needs to rethink his language.  If he can't do it on his own -- and anyone can make an error but this was a significant one -- CBS needs to reassign the story.  By his words, David Martin is a part of the culture of denial that has allowed violence against women to thrive.

Yesterday Barack held a meeting at the White House.  Chelsea J. Carter and Ashley Fantz (CNN) report:




Obama summoned Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He told the two that it was imperative they find a solution to the abuse that is undermining trust in the military.
"Not only is it a crime. Not only is it shameful and disgraceful. But it is also going to make our military less effective than it can be," Obama told reporters after the meeting.
"As such, it is dangerous to our national security. So this is not a sideshow. ... This goes to the heart and core of who we are and how effective we're going to be."

In the above three cases -- which have not been tried so you have three men who are accused but have not been found guilty of anything -- the alleged victims are all women.


Assault crimes are not restricted to one gender.  Bill Briggs (NBC News) reported yesterday:

 Amid the legislation and indignation sparked by the military's sexual abuse crisis, male rape survivors are stepping forward to remind officials that men are targeted more often than women inside a tough-guy culture that, they say, routinely deems male victims as “liars and trouble makers.”
The Pentagon estimates that last year 13,900 of the 1.2 million men on active duty endured sexual assault while 12,100 of the 203,000 women in uniform experienced the same crime — or 38 men per day versus 33 women per day. Yet the Defense Department also acknowledges “male survivors report at much lower rates than female survivors.”



The following community sites -- plus Adam Kokesh,  Black Agenda Report, the Guardian, The Diane Rehm Show, the ACLU, Pacifica Evening News and NYT's At War -- updated last night and this morning:




The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.






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