In the name of God. For over three millennia, women have taken part in the military in different communities and nations. The military activity of women used to be considered as a big taboo.

With the spread of feminist views promoting so-called gender equality in the early 1970s, the western look changed toward the issue and more countries joined the advocates of women's free choice concerning their participation in warfronts. But this participation caused countless problems for women.

Since 1970, most of the western countries issued the permission for women's presence in the army. 9 countries have determined military service for women. Historical evidence shows that Britain was the first country in which women were authorized to wear the uniform and do military service in 1938. However, these women would be paid 2/3 of the men's salary. The most famous British military woman was Winston Churchill's daughter.

Russia is another country which has tended in recent years to recruit women in the military and has even specified a military base for training of women. Germany and the US have also welcomed women's military participation. The third Reich strongly believed in the presence of women in military places. In 1944 and 1945, nearly 500 thousand women volunteered for aid works in the German army. Many of these women were awarded medals of bravery for presence at the battlefields. Nevertheless, the main role of the German women, as per the command of Hitler, was to proliferate the Arian race to take part in the future wars. According to the 2013 statistics, 15.6% of the 1.1 million US army is made up of women. In 1990 and 1991, approximately 40,000 women entered the Persian Gulf War and participated in the Desert Shield and Desert Storm operations.

In spite of the wide recruitment of women in the western armies, there are many oppositions against their presence in the military units. These oppositions have continued since the WWI. These oppositions have originated in worries over women's psychological and physical security in military places rather than misogynist views. The history of women's presence in the military is rampant with physical and psychological harassment and rape.

Now let us listen to the remarks of our expert, Ms. Elham Akhundan,

"One of the things that the west boasts of over human rights, is the issue of the rights and freedoms of women in those countries. This has flourished along with the activities of feminist groups. This is an approach which raises the equality of women and men irrespective of their natural differences. In terms of employment and recruitment, too, this equality has ostensibly been manifested even in the laborious and exhausting jobs like military service and fighting at the battlefield. This is not compatible with the female spirit and emotions of women; and has caused many psychological pressures for women. In addition to the negative effects on women's psyche, sexual abuse and rape are also seen. Sexual harassment against women in the militaries of western countries has caused many concerns as it has increased on a daily basis. This has created psychological and physical problems for the victims. This, while Islam, besides sticking to the principle of equality, raises the principle of dissimilarity so that women's participation in the social arenas is materialized in accordance with their emotions and physical abilities."

Statistics indicate that nearly 255 thousand American women had been enrolled to enter the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. some of these women suffer very hard conditions after entering the army; and that by their commanders and colleagues and not the so-called enemies. The official figures of Pentagon in 2011 showed 3,192 cases of rape. The 2012 figure was almost the same. But the true figures are certainly many times more than this as most of the rapes are never reported. One of the women in the American army said, "We lost our job because we reported that we had been raped."

The Daily Mail website, in a video report on the American female soldiers who had been raped in the army, announced that last year over 26,000 rapes and sexual abuses were committed in the US army but the victims never reported them due to the fear of repetition of rape or being fired. This site confirmed that out of every 7 cases of rape, only one is reported and out of 10 reports only one is sued at the court.

BBC, in a report broadcast in 2016, pointed to the issue, saying, "Rape has been the biggest problem in the US army in the recent decade."

 This has been approved by the US officials, too. Colonel Alan R. Metzler, an official at the Pentagon, said in an interview, "Regarding the different data, we found out that the statistics ae more than what we know. Many of the victims refuse to file official complaint and are content with simple medical treatments to avoid official charges and revenge."

Existing information confirm another reality. The fact is that the criminal men are rarely reported or punished. For instance, according to the official figures, in 2011 only 8% of the culprits of the rape files were appealed to the court and the number of the sentenced was not more than 191. Many of the women who dared to complain against their commanders or colleagues were fired on fake charges like being disqualified or suffering from dementia. In other words, the US army is doing its best to prevent exposure of these cases. Dismissal of these women has caused many other victims of rape to keep the matter hush-hush. Captain Deborah Nickerson of the American air force, says that if a woman accuses a man of raping her, the woman is charged with lying."

CNN, interviewing a number of the women who had been raped in the American army, showed that they had been fired due to flimsy excuses. Stephanie Schroeder said to the CNN that she had been beaten and raped by her colleague while taking a bath. She said, "When I reported the event to my senior officer, he said that I was lying and accused me of being content with the event."

This woman was later fired with the pretext of character disorder.  

The high number of sexual abuse and rape in the US army discloses yet another aspect of the corrupt and decadent system in the country which claims to be the flag-bearer of human rights.

RM/SS