Jackie Speier: “For the last few months I have come to this floor every week to talk about a moral black eye on this country--the issue…”

“For the last few months I have come to this floor every week to talk about a moral black eye on this country--the issue of rape and sexual assault in the military. I have mentioned the fact that the Pentagon has estimated that 19,000 servicemembers are raped or sexually assaulted each and every year. The victims typically are blamed and the assailants are promoted. I have shared the personal stories of several women who needed to have a bright light shined on this ongoing epidemic. But it is not only females in the military that are victims. Men are being victimized as well. In an April 2011 article entitled ``The Military's Secret Shame,'' Newsweek looked at the subject hardly anyone talks about: male on male rape and sexual assault. Mr. Speaker, it is time to break this silence. Last year, nearly 50,000 male veterans screened positive for ``military sexual trauma.'' Think about that, 50,000 men. That's nearly double what it was in 2003. Another 110 men made confidential reports of sexual assault by other men, nearly three times what it was in 2007. We know the number of actual victims is much higher. The latest Department of Defense report showed that only 13 percent of those who are raped in the military actually report them. Men keep quiet for the same reasons women do--a military system that gives them virtually no chance of justice.…”