"Make love not war" was a popular slogan in the late
sixties. Soldiers in many wars have found that
"making love" is a way to forget the realities of war.
Sex and war have been connected since the first time men from one
village attacked another village to kidnap women.
Invading armies often have a problem with soldiers sexually
assaulting local women.
American military forces have an ongoing problem with male personnel
sexually assaulting
female personnel.
Although genes don't control human behavior the way genes control
the behavior of other animals, genes do influence human
behavior. It may be significant that in species in
which males may fight each other to the death, the fighting is
over acquisition of females.
During World War II Japan decided to try to prevent the
rape problem by hiring women to serve as "comfort
women" who would provide sexual services for Japanese
soldiers. The size of the Japanese military hampered the
effort to have an all volunteer unit. Japan dealt with this
situation by conscripting women in the countries Japan
conquered. The controversy over the practice continues
to hamper relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Although I would not advocate the use of "comfort women", I
recognize "comfort women" could provide an option for reducing
rapes by male personnel.
Women providing sexual services would probably have a military job
title like "personal therapist". The men they provide services
to would be officially listed as "patients" and the "treatment" they
receive would have the same privacy protection as other medical
treatment. Patients would have to pass some basic physical
exam to make sure they don't have contagious diseases or medical
conditions that sexual activity might affect.
Therapists would inform patients that a doctor or nurse might
monitor their treatment by video. Any monitoring would
be for quality control as well as to protect the
therapists. There are rare cases in which even young
seemingly healthy athletes have heart attacks during strenuous
activity because of undetected heart conditions.
Therapists would receive training as counselors and be
expected to watch for problems like Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder so men could receive treatment as early as possible.
.
Outside the building where the services are provided
therapists would wear the same uniforms as other female personnel
during the time when they are expected to be in uniform.
To guarantee personal privacy their living quarters would be
separate from where the work area even if the living quarters are in
the same building. Therapists would receive
hazardous duty pay because of the disease risk. They
would have a clothing allowance for their "work clothes".
I realize that some people will question having the military
encourage what they consider an immoral practice. I
would ask these people if they consider war a more moral
activity than making love. What many ignore is that
prostitution is a business relationship rather than a personal
relationship. Although some prostitutes enjoy their
work, they don't become involved with their clients. The
"personal therapists" I'm proposing would be providing a therapeutic
service to those who are asked to risk their lives for their fellow
Americans. How can that be immoral?
Part of the rape problem is the failure of American
culture to teach men that they should learn to control their sexual
nature. Instead American culture encourages men to expect
women to serve their sexual desires. Unfortunately it isn't
practical for the military to change men's sexual
attitudes. The most practical alternative is to employ
women whose profession involves serving men's sexual needs.
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