Women & Sexual Harrassment in the Military

In the past, sexual harassment has been prominent. That's because a woman who wanted to report someone had to report to the officer in charge. She couldn't report to an independent person. The officer would seldom want to lose a good man, and would often ignore the charges.

In the last couple of years, that has begun to change. Reporting is through separate channels, and women's complaints are being taken more seriously. As for the reality of reporting harassment, one female soldier says it will no longer get you demoted, but forget being promoted and forget being treated decently ever again. A female Marine in the Middle East who is quoted in Newsmax.com says, "You have two choices. You can keep your pants on and be miserable and be harassed, or you can take your pants off and you'll still get harassed, but you'll be a little less miserable."