Rape !

Rape is an abhorrent crime that women fear.  It occurs in all strata's of society and " date rape " by drink spiking or the use of debilitating drugs is prevalent on the entertainment scene.  Many cases go unreported because of the tactics of defence counsels  in dragging the reputations of victims through the mud in court and usually the offender claims that sex was consensual.  Proving the truth often comes down to simply a clash of verbal evidence.

The courts have cleaned up their act in recent times.  The rules of evidence have been tightened and many victims do not need to physically enter the witness box and may appear via video teleconferencing - and the judiciary are handing down severe sentences to match the gravity of the crime.

Rapists serve their sentence and are then  rehabilitated into society.   They form new relationships with women and in many cases marry and gain a partner. In some cases they blame their offence on the affects of alcohol or drugs, but those that reoffend claim the urge to rape is a medical illness - and some are beyond redemption.  We will never see the end of rape as a crime.

Unfortunately, it gained a new status when it occurs in the Australian Defence Force ( ADF ) following a sordid affair where a group of young men were video taping their consensual encounters with women and distributing this widely - and there were claims that in many cases seniority was used to pressure women to accept unwanted sex in order to proceed to pass levels in their training regimen.   There were dark tales of unreported rape as an aspect of ADF life !

The ADF has certainly come down hard in enforcing protection of women in the three services but it seems there are 181 unresolved cases in which rape is claimed - and some of the alleged offenders have now progressed to senior levels.  In one case, that person now holds the equivalent rank of Colonel and the incident happened over twenty years ago.

There are also 22 cases pending court action and this raises the question of whether dismissal from the service should be an automatic part of the penalty.  An enormous amount of money has been spent training service personnel to the standard required to protect this country.  In civil cases the offender usually returns to work after serving a prison sentence and some argue that similar conditions should apply to the military.

The ADF is training those who will go on to become officers responsible for commanding others in a defence role - and that old requirement that as such they have the status of "an officer and a gentleman " certainly applied when military service was exclusively a male prerogative.  We hold military officers to a higher standard than the rank and file of society and some find it distasteful that an accused rapist should even be considered to hold officer ranking.

This conundrum is now snared both in politics and the conflicting demands of the feminist movement.  There is no doubt that accusations should proceed to court where sufficient evidence exists to reach a possible  conviction, but there is little to be gained by raking over ancient innuendo which lacks any substance to put before a court.

What is needed is a decision to clear the decks and settle the matter.  In particular, the ADF needs to be squeaky clean because the very structure of ranking puts those of lower rank at a disadvantage that does not exist in civilian occupations.   It would be reasonable for any person using their ranking superiority to coerce for sex to automatically face instant dismissal, irrespective of the rank held.

Sex is clearly a negotiation between the people concerned and both should always be on an equal footing.   That is difficult in a structured organization such as the ADF but if the rules are clear - and are rigidly enforced - both sexes can coexist in relative harmony.