In modern American society, gender discrimination remains difficult to discuss, mainly because the general public doesn’t see the old signs of subservience that once defined the phenomenon. However, gender discrimination is about more than just the structural exclusion of women because of their gender, it is also about the practices that contribute to the climate that systematically exposes them to abuse, and reduces their ability to be treated with dignity and respect. One could argue that this is especially true in the military.

Ninety percent of women experience sexual abuse in the military—friendly fire of an emotional and physical sort. In The Lonely Soldier Monologues, a play staged in New York this spring, Columbia journalism professor Helen Benedict exposes the egregious nature of sexual abuse and the prevalence of harassment in the military. Her stories of loneliness and abuse are both startling and shameful in a land willing to accept the valor of a female soldier, but not without the consequence of her dehumanization. When these women return home, many of them suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder—not only as a result of the war they fought to protect this nation, but from the war they fought to protect their bodies.

No society should condone sexual abuse; but by remaining quiet about this silent war against women in the armed services, this nation is doing just that. While US representatives Jane Harman (D-CA) and Louise Slaughter (D-NY) have held hearings to support the development of sexual abuse prevention efforts, we still have a long way to go before women are no longer marginalized and vulnerable to this type of treatment. This is a repulsive reality that needs immediate remedy. Let’s start by recognizing it exists.

Sources:

Benedict, H. Betrayal in the Field. Columbia Magazine. Spring 2009.

Copyright Monique W. Morris 2009

George Runner is at it again. The California Republican state senator is building a political career by attacking the rights of formerly incarcerated people. California law already stipulates that those who are imprisoned for a felony conviction cannot vote, but with California SB 370 and a parallel bill in the state assembly, citizens who are serving on parole or probation would also become disenfranchised.

One has to question the motivation of this bill. In 2008, thousands of formerly incarcerated men and women registered to vote–many of them for the first time, and the vast majority of them, Democratic. Stripping formerly incarcerated people of the right to vote would disenfranchise a disproportionate number of African American and Latino citizens, many of whom may be able to attribute their incarceration and/or probation to biases in the justice system (i.e., police practices, sentencing guidelines, decision-making, etc.). As evidenced by the outcomes of the failed War on Drugs, it is important to evaluate the racial impact of any proposed legislation–a stance which has been widely touted by the Sentencing Project, and one which I firmly support.

To attack the rights of this population, while ignoring the biases and conditions that lead to contact with the justice system in the first place is unconscionable. Everyone deserves a second chance–to find a job, to get an apartment, to go to school, and to vote. Probation and parole are not the kiss of civic death. They are a sanction to help correct and rehabilitate a person who has made a mistake.

SB 370 will be heard by the Constitutional Amendments Committee on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 21, 2009 in Sacramento. If you live in California, please show your opposition to the bill by contacting your state senator. Express to them that this inherently biased legislation is bound to decrease public confidence in the legitimacy of our civic processes. It is also mean-spirited and antithetical to best practices with regard to the reentry of formerly incarcerated people, which support an opportunity for redemption as a part of the rehabilitation process.

Copyright 2009 Monique W. Morris