Rep. Jackie Speier wants action taken against military personnel who may have been behind a Facebook page depicting degrading content about female members of the U.S. Marine Corps.
A day after a Pentagon report on an increase in sexual assaults in the military was released, the California Democrat sent a letter to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Marine Commandant James Amos, and Inspector General Lynne Halbrooks, insisting that efforts to deal with the growing problem of sexual assaults of female military personnel won't be successful without changing attitudes within the military toward women.
According to The Huffington Post, Speier cited a Facebook page called "F'N Wook" as an example of harmful attitudes and urged that it be taken down.
"The background wallpaper for "F'N Wook" shows a woman's breasts, and includes numerous pictures depicting women in various forms of nudity and being verbally and sometimes physically abused," she wrote in the letter sent Wednesday. "The page also includes images of women taken without their permission, inviting commenters to add their own captions. Many of the pictures imply women only advance professionally by performing sexual favors and otherwise promote the idea that women are inferior and only useful as sexual objects and sandwich makers."
"The military cannot eradicate this problem without fundamentally changing its approach, including its tolerance of participation in these kinds of websites," Speier added.
As a result of her letter, the Marine Corps is warning its members to watch what they post online,
Stars and Stripes reported. There were also reports that the Facebook page had been taken down.
"Marines must use their best judgment at all times and avoid inappropriate behavior that could bring discredit upon themselves, their unit and the Marine Corps," Capt. Eric Flanagan, a Marine spokesman, said in a written statement. "This includes posting any defamatory, libelous, abusive, threatening, racially or ethnically hateful or otherwise offensive of illegal content."
Flanagan also said there is evidence that active-duty and reservists were posting on the pages, and all have been referred to commanders "for appropriate action," Stars and Stripes reported.
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