Sexual assault crisis in US army highlighted in Oscar-nominated movie ‘Invisible War’

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Washington, Feb 23: Oscar-nominated movie Invisible War by filmmaker Kirby Dick has highlighted the existing rape crisis in the American army.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, some 30 percent of women have been raped or sexually assaulted while serving their country, and in total numbers, more men than women are victims of sexual assault, the ABC News reports.

Dick said he was just astounded by the statistics, adding nineteen thousand men and women are being sexually assaulted each year in the United States military.

The film unveils not just the high prevalence of attacks, but also focuses on the military’s response, and Dick said they interviewed more than 50 survivors on camera.

Dick added you keep hearing the same stories over again and again, adding three times we heard a story, a woman who was single, raped by a married man, yet, she was charged with or threatened to be charged with adultery.

In the military, the decision to investigate rape and sexual assault cases belongs not to law enforcement, but to the commanders, and only 8 percent of assault cases are prosecuted, the paper reported.

As for the military, rather than criticize the film, the filmmakers say it has been used in sexual assault training programs, and that may be happening, as days after screening the film, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta underscored that sexual assault has no place in military service and offered changes in how military assault cases are investigated and prosecuted, the paper added. (ANI)