John McCain On Women In Military: ‘Steer Clear For Now’

Arizona Senator John McCain thinks women should avoid military service until rampant sexual abuse and other such conduct problems are solved meaningfully.

“Just last night, a woman came to me and said her daughter wanted to join the military and could I give my unqualified support for her doing so. I could not,” said McCain during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

“At its core, this is an issue about defending basic human rights but it’s also a long-term threat to the strength of our military. We have to ask ourselves: if left uncorrected, what impact will this problem have on recruitment and retention of qualified men and women?” he asked.

“I cannot overstate my disgust and disappointment over continued reports of sexual misconduct in our military. We’ve been talking about this issue for years and talk is insufficient.”

In May, the Pentagon released an annual report which estimated that as many as 26,000 members of the armed forced became victims of unwanted sexual contact in 2012, which was a sharp increase from 19,000 cases the previous year.

The analysis of unwanted sexual contact included in the report has drawn some criticism for being too generous with its definition of “unwanted sexual contact.”

Senator Claire McCaskill said that the report is not an accurate reflection on military rape or sexual assault, because it includes criminal attacks with unwanted gazes in the same column of their numbers.

“You have all mushed together two issues,” McCaskill said. “You have two problems: one, you have sexual predators who are committing crimes and two, you have work to do on the issue of a respectful and healthy work environment. These are not the same issues.”

“‘Unwanted sexual contact’ [as defined currently by the Pentagon] is everything from somebody looking at your sideways when they shouldn’t to pushing you up against the wall and brutally raping you … We need to know how many women and men are being raped on an annual basis and we have no idea right now,” she said.

Army General Martin Dempsey agreed that the definition should be changed, but defended why it exists in the first place.

“Ten, 12, 15 years ago, there was a conversation about whether we should separate these categories. Because in separating them, (some felt) you could encourage some to ignore the unwanted sexual touching or the sexual harassment and focus in only on the sexual assault.

“It was our view 15 years ago, this problem was a continuum, not individual acts. I’m suggesting to you we didn’t get to this point by being stupid,” he said. “We actually got to this point because we were trying to do the right thing. Looking back on it, it’s probably time to adjust it.”

What do you think of McCain’s women in military advice? Should women avoid military service until the issue of sexual assault has made progress, or is McCain being unintentionally patronizing? Sound off!