PENTAGON WATCH ON SEXUAL EXPLOITATION
Sen. Sessions Warns of Sexually Exploitive Magazines at Military Sexual Assault Hearing
WASHINGTON, D.C., NUMBER 1 – June 5, 2013
At the June 4 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on sexual assaults, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) highlighted the problem of sexually exploitive magazines sold on military bases as a contributing factor to sexual assaults in the military.
In his remarks, Sen. Sessions referenced a current photo taken by Morality in Media (MIM) of a magazine rack at the military exchange on Lackland Air Force Base. 12 different porn magazines were for sale, including Playboy, Penthouse, Smooth Girl, and FHM. The photo was taken on May 30, 2013, nearly six months after Congress launched an investigation of a sexual abuse scandal at Lackland Air Force Base that involves at least 59 alleged victims of sexual assault and the investigation of 32 basic training instructors for sex abuse. A video of Sen. Sessions’ remarks can be viewed above.
MIM applauds Sen. Sessions for linking the sale of sexually exploitive materials to the current sexual exploitative military culture and urges Secretary of Defense Hagel to take action to stop the sale of pornography. The Military Honor and Decency Act, passed in 1996, prohibits the sale or rental of recordings and periodicals at military exchanges “the dominant theme of which depicts or describes nudity, including sexual or excretory activities or organs, in a lascivious way.” 10 U.S.C. 2489a(d). Despite this clear language, the Pentagon apparently cannot understand what “nudity,” “sexual,” or “lascivious” mean and still allows the sale of porn magazines.
Earlier this week MIM wrote a letter to Secretary Hagel calling on him to stop the sale of pornography and to prohibit access to pornography on all military bases worldwide. (http://bit.ly/13zPmjM) In May, MIM applauded Secretary Hagel for ordering the removal of degrading or offensive material, such as pornography, from all workspaces to change the culture of sexual exploitation in the military.
ABOUT
Pentagon Watch is a publication of Morality in Media targeting the sexually exploitive culture in today’s U.S. Military, which is fueled in part by the sale of pornography in the exchange services and on ships and by access to pornography through electronic devices or other means on military bases.
MIM was founded in 1962, Morality in Media, Inc. is the leading organization focused on opposing pornography and indecency through public education and the application of the law. www.PornHarms.com, www.MoralityInMedia.org
