Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse in America's Military
Illuminating a problem U.S. armed services still try to hide, Hunter shows that women and homosexuals in all four services risk sexual harassment and attack from their comrades. Reasons for this include many recruits' belief that being in the military proves "manhood"; the hierarchical system allowing the higher ranked to get away with abusing the lower ranked; the unwillingness of the lower ranked to get involved when a comrade is abused lest they suffer something similar; the unwillingness of the higher ranked to interfere with the system; and the custom of denying and covering up potential scandal. Hunter points out that actual abusers are a minority, but their influence is disproportionate because of the expectation that one will "bend and spread 'em" for one's superiors. Also, officers in policy-making ranks cannot conceive of or won't take effective action, despite the low morale abuse generates and the need for effective, well-disciplined troops. Hunter's abused interviewees talked to him because he isn't a veteran and so, they thought, would believe them and not cover up their stories. Murray, Frieda