Congressional Candidate Tammy Duckworth On Military Rapes: "I Wasn't A Scared 18-Year-Old"

During a recent Q&A, Illinois Congressional Candidate Tammy Duckworth gave an interesting answer regarding her perspective on sexual assault within the military:

The documentary The Invisible War has a lot of people talking about sexual assault in the military. What’s your take on this issue? 

It is absolutely unacceptable that there is sexual assault in the military. We should remember it occurs not just with female service members but with males as well. It’s unacceptable and we need more oversight. I think the military is trying hard, but until you have more female high-ranking officers, you’re going to have some issues. I never experienced sexual assault, but I was a pretty tough chick officer, and if anything I was there for lower enlisted females to come to. I wasn’t a scared 18 year old who couldn’t push back. A lot of this stuff is about power. It’s power relationships. The military needs to redouble its efforts, and there should be congressional oversight. And women need to become a bigger percentage of the military — I think as we do, things will get better.

I’m not sure I understand Duckworth’s answer here: the only women sexually assaulted in the military are scared 18-year-olds? Or is she saying that victims of sexual assaults within the military are weak, or that only younger women are targeted? I’d prefer not to make the left’s mistake of overreacting to remarks that seem unintentionally vague, thus am curious about the clarification. 

Duckworth also stated:

I think that women actually have greater success working in government than in the private sector. There are more women in government than in corporations …

This couldn’t be the result of women’s choices, could it? Recent studies confirm that the “equal pay” narrative often used by Democrats is a myth; additionally, the reason there exist fewer women than men in corporate positions is because women aren’t as willing to assume additional hours or travel away from family. It’s all a result of the free choices that the feminist movement was supposed to have given women — for which they are now criticized. I doubt Duckworth will mention the glaring inequality of pay in the Obama White House, though.