Oz military’s racist, sexist lingo towards female cadets revealed

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Sydney, July 10: Female cadets in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) are ‘squids’ because ‘they are flabby, they smell of fish (and) are easy to get into’, according to a document that was on a website for graduates.

According to news.com.au, the law firm DLA Piper found the LEGOLINGO guide to “cadets’ language” on the ADF Academy Graduates’ Association website during their investigation into allegations of sexual and other abuse within the ADF.

The document is full of racist and sexist references, and dismisses bastardization as ‘simply character building’.

The lawyers who carried out the investigation, said the ‘racist and misogynist’ statements in the document were very difficult to reconcile with claims that female cadets were treated with respect.

The LEGOLINGO guide was created in the 1980s, but was available to ADFA Graduates’ Association members as DLA Piper was carrying out the review.

The lawyers said it was ‘possible’ that ADFA – the location of the Skype sex scandal – was now entirely healthy, but that “the contemptuous hostility to women (and Asians and Aborigines) expressed in LEGOLINGO represents a significant indicator of abuse risk in the ADF”.

The DLA Piper report said that Defence environments have factors that lead to a high risk of abuse. Risk factors include being part of a minority group (such as women), a lack of punishment, the discouraging of reporting abuse, and alcohol and drugs.

“As lawyers we have seen just how brutishly, viciously and cunningly some people can and do act. We also know that some otherwise well-behaved people can lapse when under strain, when affected by alcohol or otherwise not themselves,” the report said. (ANI)