Murder of US woman soldier shines light on sexual harassment

The murder of a female US Army soldier and the subsequent suicide of the chief suspect has put a spotlight on sexual harassment in the US military.

Vanessa Guillen, a 20-year-old US Army specialist at Fort Hood in Texas, went missing more than two months ago.

After a weeks-long search, a lawyer for the Guillen family confirmed that human remains found on June 30 near her former base were those of the missing soldier.

The main suspect, a fellow US Army specialist named Aaron Robinson who was also based at Fort Hood, committed suicide last Wednesday as police closed in on him.

Another suspect, Cecily Aguilar, Robinson’s girlfriend, was charged last Thursday with “conspiracy to tamper with evidence”.

Since Guillen’s disappearance on April 22, her loved ones have said repeatedly that she was sexually harassed at the military base.

“She was afraid to report it,” her sister Lupe told ABC News.

“She reported it to her friends. She reported it to her family. She even reported to other soldiers on base,” she said.

“But she didn’t want to do a formal report because she was afraid of retaliation and being blackballed, and she, like most victims, just tried to deal with it herself.”

According to the Justice Department, Robinson told Aguilar he had killed Guillen with a hammer blow to the head, and the pair took her body to a remote site to dispose of it.

According to Guillen family attorney Natalie Khawam, Guillen had planned to file a sexual harassment complaint against Robinson.

Guillen said Robinson had followed her into the shower and watched her, her attorney said.

Khawam said sexual harassment was “epidemic” in the military and called for Congress to investigate.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York, called for the Pentagon inspector general to conduct an investigation.

Guillen’s case “raises serious and alarming questions about the Army’s ability to prevent sexual harassment and assault, respond to criminal acts and provide justice for victims and their families,” Gillibrand said in a statement. — AFP