If you have a daughter planning on a career in the Australian Defence Forces, you may want to think again. They don't have much respect for women as was clearly shown recently by a male cadet who thought it would be a huge entertainment if he could record himself having sex with a fellow female cadet while his mates looked on in another room.
When she found out about this hilarously funny joke that she wasn't a part of, she went to complain. Instead of sympathy, she was reprimanded by her superiors and put on charges but the man and his mates who were involved were completely exhonorated. Enter Defence Minister Stephen Smith who is now on a crusade on behalf of this young woman and he's determined to get to the bottom of this shocking state of affairs.
This young woman's experience of sexual abuse has opened a can of worms and today we discover that four military officers who allegedly raped and bashed fellow students at the Australian Defence Force Academy are now in crucial top jobs. At least four of the men are named in a sworn statement dated November 13, 2008, that was distributed to a number of senior defence leaders. The statement detailed a series of violent attacks and was written by a former army officer who now works in counter-intelligence and is based overseas in a terrorist hot-spot.
"I have felt bad about what happened to XXXX for the last 18 years, I realise I should have done something to stop it, but was too afraid of being subjected to the same treatment. This has borne heavily on my conscience ever since," the statement says.
The document names a number of senior Defence officers as perpetrators of a brutal sexual assault against a fellow male cadet, now a prominent lawyer, who raised concerns about bastardisation at the academy. The Daily Telegraph now knows the names of these officers - two from the army, one from the Air Force and one from the Navy.
The victim of the assault was falsely accused of pointing a weapon at a superior officer and other lies were used against him to blacken his reputation and block his applicationt to join the Army Reserve. When he complained about the brutality, he was bashed and raped by a group of cadets who shoved a broom handle into his anus. There was also another incident of a female cadet who was raped and after the assault, was scrubbed clean to destroy any forensic evidence. The cadets said that she deserved it for "letting herself get drunk".
These revelations are so disgusting, I'm lost for words. Lest we forget.
I agree that the male cadets are scum and should be discharged from the ADF. But you are very wrong that they were not facing charges or discipline. They were not getting away with what they did. I am a female cadet at ADFA. I know the full facts. In fact the Federal Police were called in but could not charge them with a Federal Offence, but ADFA, not Mr Smith, pressed the AFP to try harder to charge the male cadets. So ADFA Command acted swiftly and honourably. Lots of journalists, blog writers and Mr Smith are going to have egg on their faces when the investigation into this is completed and published. Also, whilst I feel sorry for the female cadet's humiliation, she is no Snow White either. She pleaded guilty to two previous charges of being AWOL and drunk and she is now guilty of fraternisation. ADFA cadets can't have sex with each other on ADFA property. The female cadet signed the Academy's Standing Orders about this. She willingly and knowingly broke the rules in having consensual sex on ADFA property. She is not the sort of person I want as an Officer in the ADF. neither do I want the male cadets involved as Officers. So in conclusion all the cadets, the female and the males are all disgraceful and no one should come to any of their defence. Commodore Kafer is a great man and Mr Smith has over-reacted and owes the ADF and CDRE Kafer an apology. So will you Anna Maria.
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