Sex Harassment in Navy, Marines Alleged : Scathing Report Says Ship Captain Tried to ‘Sell’ Female Sailors

WASHINGTON — The Navy and Marine Corps in the Pacific are engaged in discrimination and “morally repugnant” sexual harassment of women in the two services, including attempts to “sell” female sailors to Koreans and demands of sexual favors from women, Pentagon advisers said in a scathing report released Thursday.

“In both services, the encouragement of a macho male image contributes to behavior that is at best inappropriate and at worst morally repugnant,” said the report by the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.

The report by the civilian, mostly female committee was based on a visit last month to Navy and Marine Corps installations in Hawaii, the Philippines and Japan.

The cases of discrimination and sexual harassment were so bad, the committee reported, that many women believe their commanders are trying “to force women out of the armed forces.”

Complain of Public Sex

The most serious incidents were alleged to have occurred aboard the Safeguard, a salvage vessel then captained by Lt. Cmdr. Kenneth Harvey. Most of the 94 women aboard complained that Harvey engaged in public sex, dated female sailors and once during a western Pacific tour announced over the ship’s public address system that the women were for sale.

Harvey has since been relieved of duty pending the results of a Navy investigation, a Pentagon spokesman said.

Activity at Philippine bases included “liberal and routine public use” of Philippine women at military clubs for noon burlesque shows and other “sexually oriented entertainment with the alleged participation of audience members,” the committee said.

“The issue of moral acceptability aside, on-base activities such as these contribute to creating an environment in which females are regarded with little or no respect, and abusive behavior toward all women is not only passively accepted and condoned, but encouraged,” the report continued.

The report said also:

--Commanding officers continue to use such diminutive terms as “my girls,” “honey” and “Navy gals.”

--Women are shunted into jobs that they are not trained for and then not promoted.

--Women’s complaints about sexual harassment and discrimination are ignored by commanders.

--The lack of recreational facilities leaves women without a place where they can gather “without being humiliated and feeling denigrated as human beings.”

Lesbianism Fostered

--In some cases, women are in living situations that foster lesbianism, which is condoned by the commanding officers assigned to supervise the barracks. One barracks at Camp Butler on Okinawa is widely referred to as “Lessy Land.”

The report said women overseas face many more problems than those stationed in the United States because they are more isolated and are not provided proper housing and recreation facilities.

A similar report last year accused the Army and Air Force in Europe of permitting abuses against women on duty with American forces there.

Jacquelyn K. Davis, author of both reports, said Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger was “dismayed to say the least” about the most recent findings.

Weinberger Takes Action

In response, Weinberger on Thursday announced establishment of a Task Force on Women in the Military to review current policies and to recommend changes.

Dr. David J. Armor, a sociologist and principal deputy assistant secretary for force management and personnel, will head the task force, which will include one representative from each branch of the services, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Department and a civilian.

About 200,000 women serve in the 2.1-million active-duty military force, or 10%. About 5,000 women are in the Navy, and 50 of the more than 500 ships have women aboard. Women are not permitted to serve on combat ships.

In an interview from Berlin, Davis, a strategic analyst and vice president of the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, said both branches must reorder their command leadership to solve the problem.

To Study Command Setup

“They will have to take a look at the command structure,” she said. “It is the responsibility of the leadership to set standards of conduct of behavior and to enforce those standards of conduct. I’m sorry to say that in some cases this was not being done.

“There’s a general need to create a better understanding of the leadership obligations and a better understanding between males and females. I think (the Navy and Marine Corps) are aware they have a problem. The Army and Air Force were very supportive of going back and re-looking at the issues to see what changes needed to be made. I expect the same to be done by the Navy and Marine Corps this year as a result of this report.”