We sometimes hear stories about women in Iran or Pakistan, raped, and on top of that accused of indecent behaviour.
Well, sink your teeth in this one.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5034202.html
Female Airman Charged After Refusing to Testify in Her Rape Case
The Associated Press
Tuesday 07 August 2007
Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina - A court-martial is scheduled next month for a female airman who said she was charged after refusing to testify against three male airmen she accused of rape.
The woman is charged with one count of committing indecent acts and one count of consuming alcohol as a minor, said base spokesman Ed Drohan. The men received nonjudicial punishments and were granted immunity for their testimony in the woman's trial, according to documents provided by the woman's military defense attorneys.
"The whole thing is a system failure," said Capt. Christopher A. Eason, one of the woman's lawyers. "This is unprecedented."
The military declined to identify the men or confirm whether they were ever charged because the case is pending, Drohan said. He said military rules prohibit further discussion of the case but said "the Air Force is not attempting to cover up any wrongdoing."
The Associated Press generally does not identify possible victims of sexual assault.
In letters dated June 7 to the congressional delegations and governors of North Carolina and Texas, her native state, the woman said she decided not to testify against the three men because she was "under enormous stress."
She said she was attacked in another airman's barracks room the night of May 12, 2006, and was partially clothed when she fled the room. She said she reported the incident and received a medical examination.
In her letter, she also said the three male airmen were charged with rape but the charges were dropped after she refused to testify. The woman said she was questioned by the men's defense lawyer without her victim's advocate present, which her lawyers said was a violation of military justice policy.
"The pressure of the judicial process was too much for me, and I felt like no one was looking out for my interests," the woman wrote.
The charges allege she performed an indecent act on one man while the other two were witnesses, defense lawyers said.
A court-martial has been scheduled for Sept. 24 at the air base adjacent to Fort Bragg, Drohan said, and it will be open to the public.
If convicted on both counts, the woman could face up to a year in jail, reduction in rank, a cut in pay in allowances, a possible bad conduct discharge and be required to register as a sex offender, her defense lawyers said.
Drohan said he didn't know the maximum sentence.
"This is the wrong message to send to women in the military," said Capt. Omar S. Ashmawy, one of her military defense attorneys.
Sorta looks like Bush turned the US in a fundamentalistic state, doesn’t it?