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The Battlefield and the Barracks: Two War Fronts for Women Soldiers

Fri, 01/13/2012 - 13:17 — Dave Culver
Section(s): 
Gender & Sexuality
Peace & Nonviolence

"The crisis is so severe that I'm telling women to simply not join the military because it's completely unsafe and puts them at risk. Until something changes at the top, no woman should join the military." --Veteran April Fitzsimmons, victim of sexual assault

H. Patricia Hynes, Truthout

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(Image: Jared Rodriguez / Truthout)

The distinction between military support and combat roles vanished in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars of occupation. With this blurring of boundaries, military women serving in these wars, though barred from ground combat, have worked in situations as dangerous as those faced by men.

They have patrolled streets with machine guns, served as gunners on vehicles, dismantled explosives, driven trucks down bomb-ridden streets, and rescued the dead and injured in battle zones.

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