Military Sexual Violence: The Entwined Violences of Conflict and Sexual Violence of the U.S. Military

Sexual violence appears endemic to the modern U.S. military. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 DoD report estimates that 29,000 servicemembers experienced sexual violence; in FY21, the estimate was 35,000. Despite these numbers, much of the analysis of gender in international relations and military policy is framed through the UN’s Women, Peace, and Security agenda or through securitization approaches concerned with strengthening military capability. Drawing on my experience in the U.S. Navy Reserves and a Feminist Critical Military Studies framework, this thesis offers a pragmatic critique of an entrenched masculine system. It examines the thematic, behavioral, and narrative patterns within U.S. military combat environments that enable military sexual violence to identify possibilities for change. Using narrative inquiry and discourse analysis, three representations of the U.S. military experience—Lonely Soldier by Helen Benedict, Black Hearts by Jim Frederick, and Uncommon Grit by Darren McBurnett—are analyzed for recurring patterns. Through a Feminist Critical Military Studies approach, the study identifies five traits of militarized masculine culture associated with the persistence of sexual violence: poor leadership that sustains systemic exploitation; the justification of violence as necessary for readiness; the loss of relative power prompting masculine individuals to seek alternative means of asserting dominance; the normalization of hatred toward the feminine through training; and the prioritization of unit cohesion and community over challenging the status quo. In each instance of sexual violence, the dominated subject is feminized, reinforcing a structure in which masculinity is equated with violence, control, and superiority.