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CARREERS Special Edition
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Outrageous Military Conduct
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assailants who are married), their assailants
show their common elements. The film also suffer no more than a slap on the wrist; fewer
establishes up front that all its statistics - than 10 percent are ever criminally charged,
clearly and helpfully presented - come from and almost never with a felony.
U.S. military records, though 1 learned at the
The third reason to see the film is that it is
screening I first attended that the filmmakers such an instructive example of persistent
Why you should
care about ‘The
Invisible War’
If you've been reading this column or my
blog for long, you know there's a high likeli
hood that I am going to recommend that you
watch a film depicting some type of oppres
sion or suffering. In fact, although I occasion
ally do recommend lighter fare, my list of the
best films of 2012 is all pretty heavy stuff.
What's the point of watching such stories?
III do my best to explain that as I recommend
the 9th film on my 2012 list, "The Invisible
War," an Oscar-nom inated documentary
about the systemic problem of sexual as
saults in the U.S. military.
It’s a mark of oppression that conduct that
has affected so many people can have re
mained so invisible As the film exposes,
institutional corruption has made sexual as
sault within the U.S. military a rampant prob
lem for decades, even while military leaders
have claimed "zero tolerance."
Although the documentary focuses most
of its attention on about eight survivors, it
includes interviews with scores of veterans
whose stories share any number of character
istics: Most of the assaults were accom
plished by a superior officer and involved the
use of force; none of the survivors had re
course to an impartial justice system; none
received adequate emotional or physical care;
nearly all the survivors lost military careers in
which they were deeply invested; hardly any
of the perpetrators were punished, and, in
deed, many have advanced in their careers.
The examples are outrageous and horrify
ing, and watching the survivors and their A Trame from the documentary ‘The Invisible War, ’ a movie depicting an epidemic o f sexual assaults against women in the
loved ones recount their stories can by hard- Armed Forces and the systemic cover-up o f rape and other crimes by superior officers.
going. But the first reason for doing so is that
these survivors have endured these experi on a monument applauding them for what
had to hire a statistician to sort through those institutional oppression. One of the most
ences in such isolation. Many, perhaps most, they endured, certainly deserve one.
statistics because they are reported in such obvious problems is that these incidents are
suffered repercussions for speaking out; they
The second reason for watching the film is a deliberately opaque manner.
handled through the military justice system
were instructed to suck it up or were out-and- that it is such a well-crafted and instructive
What we learn, among other things, is that (so-called), which creates serious conflicts of
out threatened; their files were "lost" or their piece of activism. As the film unfolds, it
an astounding 20 percent of females in the interest for those charged with responding to
cases closed for lack of evidence (their testi becomes clear that director Kirby Dick had
military have reported being assaulted, and complaints.
mony and their injuries viewed as insuffi good reason to expect intense resistance to
that an estimated 80 percent of victims don't
Indeed, until very recently (and then ,in
cient). Many have attempted suicide and the story he seeks to tell, because the problem
report the crimes against them. While many of response to this film), in an estimated 25
most suffer from some form of post-traumatic of sexual assaults in the military has per
the victims ended up being involuntarily dis percent of cases, the assailant was the person
stress syndrome.
sisted, un-redressed, for decades.
charged (often after having their trauma diag to whom the victim was supposed to report
The film is constructed so as to give the
Dick uses not only statistics, but edits nosed as a personality disorder or having and, in another 30 percent of cases, the victim
victims an audience, and these survivors, interviews with military officials (many of
been charged with conduct unbecoming an
continued
on page 17
whose names are not likely ever to be listed who minimize or completely mischaracterize
officer or adultery, though it is usually the