15% of Women Vets Report Sexual Abuse: Study

Lawmaker discovers 41% of female vets at one hospital have been vicitms

(NEWSER) - A California congresswoman seeking better protection for military women said she was shocked to discover that 41% of women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the service, CNN reports. "We have an epidemic here," Jane Harman told a House panel yesterday. "Women in the US military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq." More»

They say they were raped, sexually harassed

(NEWSER) - Eight current and former servicewomen have filed a lawsuit against the US military, saying that they suffered rape, sexual harassment, and other abuse, and that reporting it to their superiors brought retaliation. The suit, which names past and current leaders up to and including Leon Panetta, says the military has a "high tolerance for sexual predators in their ranks," according to the AP . Of the eight women, seven say a comrade raped or attempted to sexually assault them. One is a current active-duty Marine, the rest are veterans. More»

Doctor listed Hena Akhter’s death as a 'suicide'

(NEWSER) - The family of a 14-year-old girl who was beaten to death in Bangladesh says she didn’t commit adultery—she was raped. Hena Akhter’s family talked to CNN this week, and offered a heartbreaking story of the girl’s death. In their telling, Akhter’s much older cousin, Mahbub Khan, had repeatedly harassed the girl, and finally this winter trapped her in a bathroom stall, gagged her, beat her, and raped her. When his wife walked in on the scene, she beat Hena, too, and then reported the “adultery” to the local Imam. More»

(NEWSER) - The Pentagon denies a report that classified photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib depict rape and sexual abuse, Reuters reports. Britain’s Daily Telegraph “completely mischaracterized the images,” a spokesman said today. “None of the photos in question depict the images that are described.” The article quotes a former US general as saying the photos show “torture, abuse, rape and every indecency.” More»

Guards raped male and female detainees, used wire for sex torture, according to probe

(NEWSER) - Unreleased photos of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib depict apparent rape and sexual abuse, according to a retired American officer who conducted an inquiry at the infamous Iraqi prison. Two photos depict the rape of a male and a female prisoner, while others show sexual assaults using a truncheon, wire, and a phosphorescent tube, Major General Antonio Taguba tells the Daily Telegraph. "These pictures show torture, abuse, rape and every indecency," he said. More»