There’s something wrong with the military way of life, with the manner in which the military are trained. The military are supposedly trained to serve and protect, but the conquering warrior mentality of the historic rape-and-pillage invasions hasn’t been buried in the past. The Oscar-nominated documentary, “The Invisible War,” begins with the perky official depictions of the military and contrasts that fantasy with facts. The movie reminds us of the past and current scandals along with personal accounts.

The 1991 Navy Tailhook scandal was followed by the 1996 Army Aberdeen scandal and the 2003 Air Force Academy scandal.  The women come from all different branches of the military such as Jessica Hinves of the Air Force, Ariana Klay with the Marines and Trina McDonald with the Navy. Producer Amy Ziering and director Kirby Dick serve as interviewers.

Rape by military in the military has been buried by the bureaucracy and a code of silence. In the documentary, someone does the math calculating that if 20 percent of service women are assaulted and about 80 percent do not report that the actual number of women who are raped by their fellow servicemen is 16,150.

The savagery of some of the rapes will outrage you. One woman, Kori Cioca, was so badly insured her doctor thought she had been in a car accident. That woman has nerve damage and another woman, a cadet whose rape was her first sexual experience, also suffered nerve damage. Saying “no” wasn’t enough because some victims screamed and called for help, but the camaraderie of the men protected the rapists and not the victim.

Some of the victims of these assaults were from military families. One woman’s father is reduced to tears when he describes his reaction and how his daughter was treated after she made a report. Another victim’s husband relates how he left the army after serving his time–almost like a prison sentence, due to how his wife was treated by the military.

Victims were told to “stop crying over spilt milk”  and going forward they were threatened and discriminated against. One woman was charged with adultery because her rapist, her commanding officer was married.

The documentary also gives a brief look at the occurrence of male rape in the Armed Forces.

How can our military protect our own civilian populace or that of a foreign country if they can’t and won’t protect their own, if their own culture supports and hides the rapist. According to the documentary, a Navy study found that 15 percent of the new recruits had attempted or committed rape. That statistic is twice that of the normal population.

Besides hearing from the victims and their families, we hear from U.S. Army criminal investigators, JAG Corps, Army psychiatrists and activists.

Written and directed by Kirby Dick, this 2012 documentary premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and is nominated for the Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards.  According to Wikipedia, the documentary has met with criticism from male survivors of sexual assault and some survivors reported being ill-treated by the producer Amy Ziering.

“The Invisible War” is now available for instant streaming on Netflix and is being shown at various places such as on Sunday, 17 February 2013 at 7 p.m. at the Broad Stage. You can meet the filmmakers and subjects after the screening for a panel discussion. Check the official movie website for more information.