Fox News’ Liz Trotta commented the other day on the frequency with which U.S. military personnel are the victims of sexual assault. The on-air discussion did not go well.
Trotta was not only critical of new Pentagon rules to support those who’ve been attacked, but also argued that the attacks themselves are to be expected. “Well, what did they expect? These people are in close contact,” she said.
As Media Matters noted, Trotta began by claiming “we have women once more, the feminist, going, wanting to be warriors and victims at the same time,” adding that feminists “have also directed them, really, to spend a lot of money. They have sexual counselors all over the place, victims’ advocates, sexual response coordinators…. [Y]ou have this whole bureaucracy upon bureaucracy being built up with all kinds of levels of people to support women in the military who are now being raped too much.”
When Fox News anchor Eric Shawn said that “many would say that they need to be protected,” Trotta was unmoved. “That’s funny,” she said, “I thought the mission of the Army, and the Navy, and four services was to defend and protect us, not the people who were fighting the war.”
“Us,” in this context, apparently doesn’t include Americans who wear the uniform.
The host pressed further, noting, “Well, you certainly want the people fighting the war to be protected from anything that could be illegal.” Trotta was still unsympathetic, responding, “Nice try, Eric.” It’s hard to even comprehend such a twisted perspective. To hear this Fox News contributor tell it, American women in the armed forces should expect sexual assaults; American men in the armed forces are likely to become sexual predators; and the American military shouldn’t bother to take any of this seriously. That anyone would find such attitudes acceptable is just stunning.
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