RECENT STATS ON U.S. MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULTS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG

RECENT STATS ON U.S. MILITARY SEXUAL ASSAULTS JUST THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG, DECLARE AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AND MILES FOUNDATION
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Human Rights Organization Launches Two-Year Campaign to Fight Violence
Against Women, Calling Such Abuse the 'Greatest Human Rights Scandal Today'

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(Washington, D.C.) – As Amnesty International launched a two-year worldwide campaign to stop Violence Against Women, the U.S. section of the human rights organization joined forces with The Miles Foundation to announce new data on sexual and physical abuse of female troops, spouses and partners perpetrated by members of America's armed forces.

The two groups cited the critical need for emergency measures to protect women, whether on active duty or on the home front, and also called on foreign leaders to take decisive action to stop scourges of armed conflict that seriously impact women: the spread of HIV/AIDS, sexual slavery, forcible displacement from homes and systematic rape as a tool of war – issues raised in Amnesty International's new report, "It's in Our Hands: Stop Violence Against Women."

"When women enlist to join the U.S. Armed Forces, they are signing up to defend their country, not to defend themselves from attacks by fellow servicemembers," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA (AIUSA). "Around the world, including the United States, women are the hidden casualties of war, and the violence they endure is no less tragic than wounded men on the battlefield. There is no 'men-only' sign on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This human rights catastrophe must be stopped."

The Miles Foundation (TMF) has confirmed 83 sexual assaults against women in uniform in the last 18 months in Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain, a number that has increased by 15 since the Senate sub-committee hearing last week. The figure for sexual assaults occurring outside the current theater of operations, on US installments both domestic and abroad, totals 215.** The organizations also reported a more pervasive trend: a sharp rise in domestic violence at the hands of U.S. servicemen. During the same 18-month period, TMF recorded 1,973 domestic violence cases – a significant increase over the same time frame before the current deployments.

"The US Armed Forces need a comprehensive prevention, intervention, and justice strategy," said Christine Hansen, Executive Director of The Miles Foundation. "It's time for the military to do what it does best: give orders. Leaders must make clear that violence against any woman, anywhere, of any nationality, age, race, rank or marital status will not be tolerated. In fact, it will be prosecuted."

** This figure includes servicewomen and civilians.

The organizations called for Congress and the administration to implement measures that would alleviate inconsistent handling and insufficient responses to such abuse, including:

· Developing a military-wide protocol to standardize Department of Defense responses to violence against women, including protecting victims from their attackers and holding perpetrators accountable.

· Approving a Fiscal Year 2005 appropriation of $10 million to create an Office of the Victim Advocate (OVA), which would ensure this military-wide protocol. OVA, established within the office of the Secretary of Defense, would provide oversight, training and accountability to all branches of the armed forces and establish a privacy privilege for survivors.

· Drafting, introducing and passing legislation to reform current policies and ensure proper responses for ending sexual and domestic violence in the military.

The need for such measures was highlighted by Susanne Mattucci, whose years of mental, verbal and physical abuse at the hands of her husband, a Petty Officer 1st Class, were virtually ignored by the Navy. The abuse culminated when her husband murdered their son six years ago. Deborah Harrison, an expert on the Canadian Forces' response to domestic violence, noted that while specific aspects of both U.S. and Canada military culture normalize and trivialize domestic violence, women in the United States at times face even greater obstacles when seeking justice.

Josephine Mutombo,** a survivor of rape by opposition forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo, also spoke, making clear that violence against women in armed conflict is indeed a worldwide issue. Beaten by the Congolese military and brutally raped by a commander, she was then thrown into a filthy jail cell where, "I was not given food, water, or a blanket, and I just lay on the cold, filthy cement floor, scared, worried and in pain from what I had just endured." AIUSA is calling on the DRC's transitional government to institute reforms to protect women and stop sexual assaults by armed forces.

Throughout the two-year campaign, AI will examine the physical and sexual abuse of women through a human-rights lens. The first year will focus on violence and armed conflict; the second year will investigate domestic and sexual violence in the home. With reports, government advocacy and the mobilization of its 1.8-million strong membership worldwide, the organization will press governments to provide women with the protections that are enshrined under international human rights law.

"This is a landmark campaign for Amnesty International, which, through its recently-expanded mandate, has more tools than ever to hold governments accountable for government-sanctioned and private citizen violence against women," said Sheila Dauer, Director of AIUSA's Women's Human Rights Program. "We join the global women's human rights movement in demanding that violence no longer be justified in the name of culture, religion or state security. We look forward to undertaking this new chapter in our organization's history."


**Pseudonym used.