# Should the military make self-defense training mandatory as a sexual assault prevention measure?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [May 19, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742 "2014-05-19T16:40:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/1 "2014-05-19T16:40:07Z")
Several US Air Force bases have started teaching [Gracie Jiu Jitsu](http://www.gracieacademy.com/women_empowered.asp) under the umbrella of “resiliency training,” which is team-building/suicide prevention. Rumor has it that there’s some hesitation about bringing it in under the umbrella of sexual assault prevention training.
I think the USAF may be unique among the branches in not having any sort of mandatory hand-to-hand combat training at any level. I think they should make self-defense training mandatory in basic training, but if there is indeed hesitation, I understand it. It puts the onus on the sexual assault victims, and could make it appear that they’re unable to prevent men from committing assaults.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/2 "2014-05-19T16:47:59Z")
It’s the U.S.A.F.'s way of passing the responsibly for the inherent misogyny in that branch of the service to the potential victims.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/3 "2014-05-19T16:56:05Z")
Being the only military branch that doesn’t require lessons in unarmed combat, has the Air Force been subject to more sexual assaults than the other branches? Because if not, I’m not sure how this is going to help.
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/4 "2014-05-19T16:59:44Z")
> [@Miller](#):
>
> Being the only military branch that doesn’t require lessons in unarmed combat, has the Air Force been subject to more sexual assaults than the other branches? Because if not, I’m not sure how this is going to help.
That’s an excellent question. I should point out that as far as I know, the hand-to-hand combat taught by the other branches is ostensibly for killing the enemy. The Gracie self defense course is designed to allow a small person to extricate themselves from a sexual assault and run away. I don’t know how relevant a direct comparison would be.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/5 "2014-05-19T17:01:43Z")
Just like giving them parachutes puts the onus on pilots for getting shot down.
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/6 "2014-05-19T17:03:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Just like giving them parachutes puts the onus on pilots for getting shot down.
>
> Regards,
> Shodan
Thoughtless and stupid. Parachutes solve a problem. Teaching a service member how to disengage from an attacker and run away in a context where there’s more often than not nobody to run _to_ is just a policy of pretending the problem is something other than what it is.
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/7 "2014-05-19T17:04:46Z")
> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Just like giving them parachutes puts the onus on pilots for getting shot down.
>
> Regards,
> Shodan
Yes, and if the Air Force bought a jet that was extremely crash-prone, and their solution was to hand out parachutes rather than fixing the jet, they’d be rightly criticized.
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/8 "2014-05-19T17:08:32Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#):
>
> Teaching a service member how to disengage from an attacker and run away in a context where there’s more often than not nobody to run _to_ is just a policy of pretending the problem is something other than what it is.
To be fair, having somebody to run to is one area that the military has been making massive improvements. The problem is that while increased reporting and prosecution is a good thing, it doesn’t necessarily help _prevent_ sexual assaults in the first place. This self defense training might.
eta: To continue the analogy, they should really try to fix the jet AND hand out parachutes.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/9 "2014-05-19T17:16:09Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#):
>
> Thoughtless and stupid. Parachutes solve a problem. Teaching a service member how to disengage from an attacker and run away in a context where there’s more often than not nobody to run _to_ is just a policy of pretending the problem is something other than what it is.
No, it’s quite similar. Parachutes do not solve every crash problem, and do not shift the onus for crashes to the pilot.
[QUOTE=steronz]
Yes, and if the Air Force bought a jet that was extremely crash-prone, and their solution was to hand out parachutes rather than fixing the jet, they’d be rightly criticized.
[/QUOTE]
Fallacy of the excluded middle, same as **Jimmy Chitwood**. HtH training is not what the Air Force is doing instead of addressing the problem, but one part of addressing the problem. Certainly the issue is a difficult one, but the idea that the Air Force is simply throwing their airmen into jujitsu school and washing their hands of the problem is a silly one.
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/10 "2014-05-19T17:17:04Z")
> [@steronz](#):
>
> To be fair, having somebody to run to is one area that the military has been making massive improvements. The problem is that while increased reporting and prosecution is a good thing, it doesn’t necessarily help _prevent_ sexual assaults in the first place. This self defense training might.
>
> eta: To continue the analogy, they should really try to fix the jet AND hand out parachutes.
In an environment that has been shown to favor the male of the species, a situation where there is fighting between a female enlisted and a male enlisted or officer might not be to her advantage if the situation is investigated.
From the Wiki on [sexual abuse in the United States military:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_assault_in_the_United_States_military)
> [@](#):
>
> The Department of Defense estimates there are about 19,000 sexual assaults in the military per year but according to the latest Pentagon statistics (2013), only 1,108 troops filed for an investigation during the most recent yearly reporting period and during that period, only 575 cases were processed. No outside audit has been conducted of the military’s numbers. Of the cases processed, only 96 went to court-martial. Ninety percent of the assault victims were eventually involuntarily discharged. Another investigation found that only one in five females and one in 15 males in the United States Air Force would report having been sexually assaulted by service members.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/11 "2014-05-19T17:22:09Z")
> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Just like giving them parachutes puts the onus on pilots for getting shot down.
>
> Regards,
> Shodan
Stop being so rational.
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/12 "2014-05-19T17:24:34Z")
**Czarcasm** , I don’t disagree that things are still bad; I simply said that the military has been making [massive improvements](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/01/us-usa-defense-sexassault-idUSBREA400AM20140501). I’m not sure what point you’re making.
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### Author:  [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/13 "2014-05-19T17:27:50Z")
> [@steronz](#):
>
> The problem is that while increased reporting and prosecution is a good thing, it doesn’t necessarily help prevent sexual assaults in the first place. This self defense training might.
> [@Shodan](#):
>
> Fallacy of the excluded middle, same as **Jimmy Chitwood**. HtH training is not what the Air Force is doing instead of addressing the problem, but one part of addressing the problem. Certainly the issue is a difficult one, but the idea that the Air Force is simply throwing their airmen into jujitsu school and washing their hands of the problem is a silly one.
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#):
>
> Stop being so rational.
The question was whether the military should implement self-defense training to prevent sexual assault. This is only something other than a non sequitur if self-defense training does, in fact, prevent sexual assaults in some significant way; otherwise the answer ought to be “no: given that the military in fact has finite resources and a finite level of rank-and-file tolerance for such measures, the military should only do things that are significantly effective.” Agreed?
The next question then is whether, other than the self-serving suggestions of hyper-rationality and cold hard logic, you have any reason to believe it’s a significantly effective approach.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/14 "2014-05-19T17:33:03Z")
> [@steronz](#):
>
> **Czarcasm** , I don’t disagree that things are still bad; I simply said that the military has been making [massive improvements](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/01/us-usa-defense-sexassault-idUSBREA400AM20140501). I’m not sure what point you’re making.
Massive improvements? While reportage is up 50%(mostly by males),
> [@](#):
>
> Critics said the Pentagon’s numbers on increased reporting demonstrated little improvement in the proportion of cases going to trial or the percentage of convictions.
> A total 484 cases went to trial in the 2013 fiscal year that ended on September 30 and 370 people were convicted of an offense, the report said. That compared with 302 trials the previous year and 238 convictions.
> “You can’t tell me that only one in 10 cases are worthy of going to trial. That’s like saying 90 percent of those who come forward are lying,” Representative Jackie Speier, a California Democrat, told Reuters in an interview.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/15 "2014-05-19T18:15:42Z")
From [this site:](http://rt.com/usa/hagel-military-pentagon-sexual-964/)
> [@](#):
>
> The Pentagon admitted this week upon the completion of a soon-to-be released Defense Department study that sexual assaults within the United States military are on the rise.
>
> The full results of the survey will not be unveiled until later this week, but the Pentagon has already disclosed one particularly startling statistic: within the ranks of the military, the number of service members who say they’ve been sexually assaulted during the last year amounts to roughly 26,000.
>
> By comparison, 19,300 service members answered similarly in a 2010 study, suggesting the number of attacks has increased by one- third in just two years’ time.
>
> “Sexual assault is a persistent problem and there is more work to be done,” the Pentagon acknowledged in a statement obtained by USA Today.
and
> [@](#):
>
> The Pentagon has determined that the rate of female victims victimized in sexual assaults went from roughly 1-in-26 to 1-in-16 between the 2010 study and the most recent report. The actual number of incidents could be far greater, though, as other studies have suggested that accurate data in terms of Defense Department rapes is hard to get a hold of. Although 26,000 service members say they were sexually assaulted in 2012, the Pentagon officially counted only 3,374 formal allegations.
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### Author:  [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/16 "2014-05-19T18:49:39Z")
I don’t want to play too much devil’s advocate here, but it’s unclear to me if the increase is due to more sexual assaults, or a better understanding of what constitutes a sexual assault leading to more people realizing that they were indeed sexually assaulted. I also don’t look too harshly on the abysmal conviction rate, because the conviction rate outside of the military is also abysmal. Sexual assaults are notoriously hard to prosecute, since there’s rarely any witnesses or physical evidence.
All I know is that I’ve seen a shift in attitudes with my own eyes, at least a the upper levels of management. There’s still a huge cultural problem at the lower levels, but I don’t know why that would preclude the teaching of self defense methods.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/17 "2014-05-19T18:53:41Z")
> [@steronz](#):
>
> I don’t want to play too much devil’s advocate here, but it’s unclear to me if the increase is due to more sexual assaults, or a better understanding of what constitutes a sexual assault leading to more people realizing that they were indeed sexually assaulted. I also don’t look too harshly on the abysmal conviction rate, because the conviction rate outside of the military is also abysmal. Sexual assaults are notoriously hard to prosecute, since there’s rarely any witnesses or physical evidence.
>
> All I know is that I’ve seen a shift in attitudes with my own eyes, at least a the upper levels of management. There’s still a huge cultural problem at the lower levels, but I don’t know why that would preclude the teaching of self defense methods.
I’m wondering if having _both_ parties come forward with bruises might be used as an excuse not to prosecute the initial attacker.
Edited to add: Does anyone know the current status of [the Military Justice Improvement Act(Senate Bill 1752)?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Justice_Improvement_Act)
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### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [May 19, 2014, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/18 "2014-05-19T23:50:52Z")
Do the emergency medical facilities at AF bases keep Kits in stock? Considering the way the AF ignores religious discrimination at their academy, I can’t see them caring much about their female personnel being raped by their male personnel.
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### Author:  [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/19 "2014-05-20T01:09:23Z")
> [@steronz](#):
>
> Yes, and if the Air Force bought a jet that was extremely crash-prone, and their solution was to hand out parachutes rather than fixing the jet, they’d be rightly criticized.
Shouldn’t they hand out parachutes AND fix the jet?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2014, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-military-make-self-defense-training-mandatory-as-a-sexual-assault-prevention-measure/688742/20 "2014-05-20T04:40:08Z")
> [@Bricker](#):
>
> Shouldn’t they hand out parachutes AND fix the jet?
I’d still like to see some evidence that they fixed the jet…beyond the fact that they bought a shiny new tool box. If reporting sexual assaults is up by 50%, but convictions are only up by a fraction of that amount, that tells me that the conviction rate is getting much worse in proportion to the report rate.
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