WASHINGTON, D.C. – Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson, superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy, announced on August 14, 2014 she has tasked campus athletic coaches with greater involvement in preventing sexual assaults. This announcement follows reports of sexual abuse by athletes and lax faculty supervision as well as a culture in the athletic department that encourages sexual harassment and assaults. Lt. Gen. Johnson fails to address the causes of such misconduct.
Dawn Hawkins, Morality in Media’s Executive Director, comments on this situation as follows:
This culture of sexual exploitation thrives in military environments due, in part, to the acceptance of rampant porn use. Despite the Military Honor and Decency Act, which requires the US Department of Defense to remove all sexually explicit materials sold or rented by stores on military bases, pornography continues to be sold by the military and widely consumed daily by troops and academy students. Only the Air Force and Army bases have banned pornographic material.
The belief that women and subordinates are objects for sexual pleasure—rather than co-workers or fellow students—is strengthened by regular porn use. Research has demonstrated that consumption of pornography leads to profound changes in attitudes and beliefs by some, including the belief that women deserve or enjoy rape and sexual violence. MIM maintains a database of peer-reviewed research on the harms of pornography at pornharmsresearch.com.
In 2013, at least 70 sexual assaults were reported per day in our nation’s armed services due to a culture that accepts sexual assault. Because of this, military schools and bases need to be porn-free zones.
Founded in 1962, Morality in Media, Inc. is the leading national non-profit organization dedicated to opposing pornography through education about its harms by highlighting the links to sex trafficking, violence against women, child abuse and obsessive use of porn.
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