Fox Pundit: No Surprise Women in Military Get Raped

The military's easing of the ban on women in combat came just a few weeks after news that sexual violence in the military has risen sharply—and in a recent segment on Fox News, contributor Liz Trotta (who has seen her share of gaffes in the past) found a way to combine the two news items in quite possibly the most controversial way possible. "Women once more, the feminists, [want] to be warriors and victims at the same time," she said in a clip picked up by Media Matters. Noting the 64% increase in violent sexual assaults since 2006, she asked, "Now, what did they expect? These people are in close contact."

Then she turned, again, on "the feminists," who have "directed them, really, to spend a lot of money. They have sexual counselors all over the place, victims’ advocates, sexual response coordinators," Trotta said. "So, you 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." Host Eric Shawn argued that service members should be protected, but Trotta responded, "That's funny, I thought the mission of the Army, the Navy, the four services was to defend and protect us, not the people who are fighting the war. … This whole question of women in the military has not been aired properly, and it’s the great sleeping giant." Full clip on Media Matters. (More women in the military stories.)