RSS Feed
November 3rd, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick … released a report reviewing the treatment of women at the Australian Defence Force Academy. Photo: Brendan Esposito
FEMALE cadets at the Defence Force academy are subjected to widespread sexual harassment, exacerbated by poor leadership, outdated attitudes and a lack of appreciation of what women can contribute to the armed services, according to a report by the Sex Discrimination Commissioner.
The report’s authors found 74 per cent of female cadets and 30 per cent of male cadets had been sexually harassed, and there had been incidents of far more serious sexual misconduct, such as rape and sexual assault.
The commissioner, Elizabeth Broderick, said yesterday at the launch of the report that there had been a vast improvement since the last exhaustive study of sexual harassment at the academy in 1998, but there were still major problems with the institution and Defence Force as a whole.
”No doubt military culture is a very male-dominated culture and if you look at ADFA only 20 per cent of cadets are female,” she said. ”It is what some people describe as the warrior culture, the predominant underpinning [is] about strength, fitness, all those things. The research suggests in those circumstances it will be more difficult for women and that is the case.”
The report says there are fundamental flaws in the treatment of women, including a lack of supervision of the sleeping quarters and bathrooms shared by male and female cadets.
”Among cadets there was a strong culture of commodification of women, particularly as sexual objects,” one female former cadet told the review panel.
”Female cadets were often treated as ‘game’ after hours, rather than as respected colleagues. Female cadets were often harassed by male cadets [and] these sorts of actions were simply part of the culture at ADFA.”
Another former cadet said she had been sitting in her room at her desk when a male cadet walked in, opened his fly and asked her to perform oral sex on him. She declined, but it took a ”significant effort” to get the male cadet to leave.
The review was a reaction to the ”Skype scandal”, in which a cadet at the academy alleged she was unknowingly filmed having sex with a male colleague while other cadets watched over the internet.
”Our review found widespread, low-level sexual harassment; inadequate levels of supervision, particularly for first-year cadets; an equity and diversity environment marked by punishment rather than engagement; and cumbersome complaints processes,” the report says.
Yet the report goes on to say the majority of female cadets interviewed said they were treated ”equally and with respect”, and that their experience at the academy was a positive one.
Some female cadets said female officers were more likely to treat them harshly than male instructors, possibly in an effort to prepare them for ”survival in a male-dominated environment in the ADF”, one cadet said.
Female cadets said they were judged on their body shape, to the extent they were warned not to eat dessert and were insulted about their weight.
The report makes several recommendations, in particular urging the Defence Force hierarchy to acknowledge the value of the academy and work hard to change its culture.
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
