2006年VOA标准英语-Former Air Force Cadet Airs Charges of Rapes, O

By Carolyn Weaver¹
Washington, DC
30 June 2006
 
watch report Sexual Harrasment

 
The U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was rocked by charges of sexual assults in 2003. 
  

A military jury acquitted² a U.S. Coast Guard Academy cadet of rape³ on June 27, but found him guilty on several other charges, including extorting⁴ sexual favors from a female cadet. It was the first court-martial in the 130-year history of the Coast Guard Academy, and may signal change in how charges of rape and sexual assault are handled in the armed services. The same day, Congressman⁶ Christopher Shays held a subcommittee hearing on the subject of sexual assault in the military, particularly at the academies that prepare young men and women for service in the Coast Guard, Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines. 

----------

Subcommittee Chair Congressman Christopher Shays promised more hearings on the issue
  
  

Congressman Shays said he and other members questioned the commitment of the Department of Defense⁷ to respond aggressively to the problem. The hearing centered on the testimony⁸ of one young woman, Elizabeth Davis, a former cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. Now 25, Davis told the subcommittee, "I was raped⁹ and assaulted repeatedly my freshman¹⁰ year by a superior cadet in my squadron. In earlier sexual assault briefings during my training," she testified, "upper-class women cadets informed us that it was very likely that we would be raped or sexually assaulted during our time at the academy, and they instructed us that if we were attacked, to not report it to authorities because it would effectively destroy our career."

Davis says when she finally reported the rapes¹¹, she was branded mentally ill by an academy psychologist who told her he had been ordered to do so by an academy commander. She was then charged with serious infractions and forced to resign.
 
 
Former Air force cadet Elizabeth Davis, testifying to a Congressional subcommittee (June 27, 2006) 
  
"To my shock and dismay, the demerits were for ‘sex in the dorms,' because my rapes took place in the dormitory," she testified, "‘fraternization,' because my rapist was an upperclassman, and ‘alcohol' because I had included in my charges that my perpetrator had been buying alcohol for my underage peers. As my world and everything I believed in crumbled¹² before me, I realized I was being castigated¹³ and thrown out of the academy for reporting the heinous¹⁴ crimes that had been committed against me."

Several top Air Force Academy officials retired¹⁵ or were reassigned after accusations¹⁶ by Davis and several other female cadets became public in 2003. But none of the military officials has been disciplined for Davis's treatment. Congressman Shays and several committee members expressed outrage¹⁷. "The testimony I've heard today," Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney told the hearing room, "is that if you're raped, you're thrown out of the military with charges against you so you cannot get a job in the military or government again. Yet if you're the rapist, you just might get a promotion¹⁸. Or if you're discharged, you're quietly discharged."

Congressman Shays said,  "You basically had brutality¹⁹ take place, testimony that all the women were told, ‘you will be raped and you must deal with it.'  And then you have testimony that the people who raped are alive and well in our military, prospering²⁰."

 
Brigadier General Susan Desjardins, appointed commandant of the Air Force Academy in December 2005 
  
During a break in the hearing, the Air Force Academy's current commandant, Brigadier General Susan Desjardins, said that Davis's experience was very regrettable, but that changes have been made. "She was there in 1999 and experienced these incidents through 2001," Desjardins told a reporter. "And 2003 is when this came to light, and with crisis -- which this certainly was for the Air Force Academy, and really for the Air Force, and ultimately the Department of Defense -- we found an opportunity. And we've taken the recommendations from various task forces, and we've made a series of changes. And we are cautiously optimistic that those changes are taking hold. But a testimony like this keeps the light -- the focus -- on the fact that we're not through." 

Vice⁵ Admiral Rodney P. Rempt, superintendent²¹ of the U.S. Naval²² Academy, said his institution is changing, too.  "I can tell you this, I'm the one personally accountable for anything that goes on at the Naval Academy," he said, "and I take that very seriously, especially with regard to sexual harassment²³ and misconduct and assault. It is my goal to ensure that every single midshipman knows what we expect of them and to hold them to that high level of performance. as well as my faculty²⁴ and staff."

But Elizabeth Davis said that a "rape culture" still exists in the service academies -- and that most of her former female classmates later told her that they, too, had been assaulted.  When Congressman David Price asked Davis, "Would you feel comfortable recommending to a young woman that she pursue education at a service academy?" her answer was emphatic²⁵. "Absolutely not," she said, "We're still hearing cases of women coming out of the academies absolutely distraught, having been through the exact same thing that I went through. It's really a shame. It's such an injustice²⁶."

Congressman Shays said that the hearing has caused him to add additional hearings to the subcommittee's schedule, to include the testimony of many other women who have charged they were sexually assaulted while students at the military academies

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 acquitted   

宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现

参考例句：

• The jury acquitted him of murder. 陪审团裁决他谋杀罪不成立。
• Five months ago she was acquitted on a shoplifting charge. 五个月前她被宣判未犯入店行窃罪。

3 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

4 extorting   

v.敲诈( extort的现在分词 )；曲解

参考例句：

• Corrupt government officials were extorting money from him. 腐败的政府官员向他敲诈钱财。 来自辞典例句
• He's been charged with extorting protection money from the shopkeepers. 他被指控对店主敲诈勒索保护费。 来自互联网

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

9 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

10 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

11 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

12 crumbled   

（把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏

参考例句：

• He crumbled the bread in his fingers. 他用手指把面包捻碎。
• Our hopes crumbled when the business went bankrupt. 商行破产了，我们的希望也破灭了。

13 castigated   

v.严厉责骂、批评或惩罚（某人）( castigate的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He castigated himself for being so stupid. 他责怪自己太笨。
• He castigated the secretaries for their sloppy job of filing. 由于秘书们档案工作搞得马虎草率，他严厉地斥责了他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 heinous   

adj.可憎的，十恶不赦的

参考例句：

• They admitted to the most heinous crimes.他们承认了极其恶劣的罪行。
• I do not want to meet that heinous person.我不想见那个十恶不赦的人。

15 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

16 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

17 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

18 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

19 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

20 prospering   

成功，兴旺( prosper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Our country is thriving and prospering day by day. 祖国日益繁荣昌盛。
• His business is prospering. 他生意兴隆。

21 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

22 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

23 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

24 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

25 emphatic   

adj.强调的，着重的；无可置疑的，明显的

参考例句：

• Their reply was too emphatic for anyone to doubt them.他们的回答很坚决，不容有任何人怀疑。
• He was emphatic about the importance of being punctual.他强调严守时间的重要性。

26 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。