09:55 – The US Navy is being widely and unjustly ridiculed for its Sexual Assault Prevention Tips poster, which the Navy confirms is for real.
What no one seems to have noticed is that this poster is not targeted at potential victims, but at potential rapists. This isn’t a “how to avoid being raped” list; it’s a “how to avoid raping someone” list. As far as I know, this is the first-ever list of tips to help would-be rapists avoid raping someone. It’s ridiculous, yes. Particularly jarring are the modifications of advice usually offered to potential victims. Use the buddy system: take someone along to stop you from assaulting someone. Carry a whistle: give it to your prospective victim so that she can blow it when you start raping her. Geez. But when I tried to come up with a list for potential rapists, I couldn’t do much better.
What is particularly disturbing is that the Navy finds it necessary to issue such a list. Are there really so many Navy guys who can’t control their impulses to rape women that they need such a moron-list for guidance? “If you pull over to help someone with car problems, remember not to assault them!” Is that really something that slips the mind of Navy guys?
More lab work today, interspersed with doing laundry.
#10 Don’t assault people? Isn’t that what they are SUPPOSED to be doing?
How about adding #11 Rape someone and we’ll hand your fuckin’ balls to ya, punk!
I don’t know, but I assume that the military still hangs rapists.
I’ve always thought they should change that aspect of military law. Rape a friendly or neutral, and they should hang you. Rape an enemy, and they should give you a Good Conduct medal. Of course, I’ve always believed the Apaches’ way of fighting was best. Kill, maim, rape, and torture your enemy. Stake him out on an anthill. Sneak into his tent at night and cut his throat. Rape and kill his women. Hand over enemy prisoners to your women. If it’s really worth fighting about, make sure the enemy knows you’re not fooling around.
The last US soldier to be executed for any crime was (coincidentally?) convicted of rape and attempted murder way back in 1961, and was hanged. So apparently they don’t hang people for rape anymore. They just print stupid posters. Like a poster is going to stop a sociopath.
In fact, according to http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/us-military-death-penalty they wouldn’t hang anyone anymore, as they have switched to lethal injection. Better living through Chemistry!
Either that, or perhaps no one in the military has raped anyone since 1961.
Incidentally, I can think of other worthwhile tips for the Navy’s next poster. For example, “If you’re planning a murder-suicide or a shooting spree, prepare for it by shooting yourself FIRST!”
Buddy system sounds like a variation of the designated driver diversion.
We had a recent case in a nearby town whereby two cops got drunk on a day off and made a plan. They abducted a waitress from shopping center parking lot and one drove off and raped her while the buddy provide cover, lookout and distraction.
I’m so boring that, for most of my life, any time I went to a party with a group of friends, we had to have a designated drinker.
If an off-duty cop is killed, you’ll often hear calls for extra punishment for the killer, on the grounds that a cop is always a cop and is always on duty. It’s odd how you never hear calls for enhanced punishment when a cop commits some crime, whether on the clock or not.
When I was in Korea, 1985 and 1986, a rapist was active at Camp Casey. (And it’s more difficult than you’d think, phrasing that so it’s neither cumbersome nor self-incriminating. So I didn’t bother.) So far as I know, they never caught him. It’s possible it wasn’t an American soldier, but that’s the way to bet.
“perhaps no one in the military has raped anyone since 1961”
Mmmm, perhaps. A Google search for “rape by US servicemen” turns up quite a number of cases. Perhaps none worthy of lethal injection?
All the military services employ civilian sociologists. I would bet a dollar to a donut that one of them came up with this from guidance from SecNav. The DoD also has a heard of civ sociologists to respond to Congressional complaints about how lacking our military is in “feelings”. Our military would be even better by getting back to “breaking stuff and killing” instead of nation building and hand holding.
>>All the military services employ civilian sociologists.<<
None have them has done a better job than Ruth Benedict did, back before the term 'sociology' was invented.
What's it going to take before this huggy-feely PC-crap gets worked out of serious intellectual inquiry?
Bendict's work was thoughtful, and perhaps that's what I mean by intellectual. Any idiot who's travelled (Bob, you may exlude youself here due to ignorance) knows there are cultural differences in personality.
I don't like this new format. I say you go back to Ikonboard 3.1.5 at whatever expense.
“I don’t like this new format. I say you go back to Ikonboard 3.1.5 at whatever expense.”
Amen brother!
“Either that, or perhaps no one in the military has raped anyone since 1961”
This chap has been on death row for ages, but he started in 1986. Justice delayed is justice denied IMHO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_A._Gray
How utterly bizzare. If someone is planning an assault, who think they will be deterred by a poster like this?
“I don’t like this new format. I say you go back to Ikonboard 3.1.5 at whatever expense.”
I’m sure Bob will agree, the second he receives your blank check!
It’s not the Navy’s poster-it’s been around for a while…
http://tumblinfeminist.tumblr.com/post/5532695085/fool-proof-sexual-assault-prevention-tips
The point being that assaults are due to the behavior of the attacker, not the victim. However, I don’t think it was a good of the Navy idea to post it without some context…
Yes, I did a Google search sorted by date, and found similar text dating back to May 2010. There were minor differences between that older text and the text on the poster. However, the US Navy says this is actually for real. Apparently, they grabbed that text, made some minor mods, and printed up posters.