California Western Law Review Volume 29 Number 1 Article 11 1992 Running a Gauntlet of Sexual Abuse: Sexual Harassment of Female Naval Personnel in the United States Navy Douglas R. Kay Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/cwlr Recommended Citation Kay, Douglas R. (1992) "Running a Gauntlet of Sexual Abuse: Sexual Harassment of Female Naval Personnel in the United States Navy," California Western Law Review: Vol. 29 : No. 1 , Article 11. Available at: https://scholarlycommons.law.cwsl.edu/cwlr/vol29/iss1/11 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by CWSL Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in California Western Law Review by an authorized editor of CWSL Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Kay: Running a Gauntlet of Sexual Abuse: Sexual Harassment of Female N RUNNING A GAUNTLET OF SExuAL ABUSE: SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF FEMALE NAVAL PERSONNEL IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY "Surely, a requirement that a man or woman run a gauntlet of sexual abuse in return for the privilege of being allowed to work and make a living can be as demeaning and disconcerting as the harshest of racial epithets." t - Judge Vance from Henson v. City of Dundee INTRODUCTION It is unlikely that Judge Vance intended to be prophetic about the Navy when he spoke these words in 1982. Unfortunately, at the Tailhook sympo- sium in October 1991, Navy women were forced to run just such a gauntlet. Navy and Marine Corps aviators used what they called a gauntlet to systematically sexually assault at least 26 women, over half of whom were female Navy officers.