WOMEN IN THE MILITARY
Anuradha Bhagwati
; GENDER-RIGHTS ADVOCACY ;
Giving Women
Service Members
a Voice
From sexual violence to post-traumatic stress disorder,
the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) is
advocating for policy change for women in the armed
forces. Here’s how. BY GAIL ZOPPO
Women currently represent 15 percent of the military, with
more than 356,000 serving in the
armed forces. But their voices aren’t
always heard, according to former
Marine Corps Captain Anuradha
Bhagwati. Three years ago, she
founded New York City–based
Service Women’s Action Network
(SWAN; www.servicewomen.org)
and has been providing support and
advocacy to address the day-to-day
challenges servicewomen and veterans face. She has testified numerous
times before legislative committees
on the following gender-bias issues:
; Military Sexual
Trauma (MST)
According to the recently released
Department of Defense (DoD) 2009
Annual Report on Sexual Assault in
the Military, 3,230 restricted
(confidential) and unrestricted
reports of sexual assault were filed,
up 11 percent from fiscal year 2008.
But the numbers are actually much
higher; fewer than 10 percent of
assaults are reported at all, states
the study (which does not include
conviction rates).
The reasons Bhagwati cites:
isolation, a misogynistic culture and
fear of retaliation. In Iraq, for
instance, women represent only 1 in
10 troops and serve with few or no
other women. Moreover, military
culture encourages service mem-
bers to avoid looking weak by
complaining, she says. “There’s
little incentive to report it,” says
Bhagwati. Unlike the civilian
workplace where employment-law
protections allow employees to sue
for sexual harassment, she says,
“that’s not an option in the mili-
tary—you are completely at the
mercy of your commander.”
One of SWAN’s missions is to
push lawmakers for an outside,
Photos courtesy of Service Women’s Action Network
For more in-depth information on diversity in the military,
visit
www.DiversityInc.com/diversity-in-the-military
