Institutionalized Misogyny: Sexual Violence as an Organizational and Security Issue in the U.S. Military

• In Event: The Role of Social Institutions and Victimization

Abstract

The Department of Defense (DoD) is one of four agencies responsible for implementing the U.S. Women, Peace, and Security Act. The DoD acknowledges that sexual harassment and assault create significant barriers to women's meaningful participation in the military. Moreover, the DoD states that a gender analysis of all military operations helps protect women from violence both in peacetime and during armed conflict. In this paper, I demonstrate how misogyny is embedded within the military’s organizational values, procedures, and spatial structures, creating an environment that encourages sexual violence against its own servicemembers. I argue that the military’s emphasis on dominance, aggression, and external violence not only shapes its operations but also perpetuates internal gendered violence against servicewomen. I highlight how women are at elevated risk of sexual violence while deployed, connecting the participation in external violence to increased risk of internal organizational violence. Recognizing this dynamic is important for understanding sexual violence as both an organizational and security issue and bridges the gap between research on sexual violence in peacetime and in armed conflict.

Author

• Stephanie Bonnes, University of New Haven