Sen. McSally says she was raped in Air Force
She reveals in congressional hearing that a superior officer assaulted her
A year after saying she was sexually abused in high school, Sen. Martha McSally revealed during a congressional hearing Wednesday that she was raped by a superior officer while she was in the Air Force.
McSally, an Arizona Republican, said only that an attack happened and implied that it occurred early in her military career that spanned more than two decades.
The personal disclosure came during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel intended to prevent and better respond to sexual assaults in the military in the future. McSally has been a tireless advocate for the military, which she now wants to include a system that protects women and men who have faced sexual assault and abuse.
It makes her a unique voice among the women on Capitol Hill who have gone public with their experiences surviving sexual assault and harassment in the wake of the national reckoning brought on by the #MeToo movement.
During her time in the Air Force, which stretched from 1988 until 2010, McSally said she saw weaknesses in how leaders handled the prevention, investigation, and adjudication of reports of sexual assaults. She said she did not report her own because she did not trust leaders would hold her attacker accountable.
McSally, 52, did not identify her assailant, at what point in her military career the assault took place, where the attack occurred or the names of the people she later told.
A spokeswoman for McSally said the senator would not be immediately commenting further about her experiences.
“So, like you, I also am a survivor, but unlike so many brave survivors, I didn’t report being sexually assaulted,” said McSally, who was reading from prepared remarks. “Like so many women and men, I didn’t trust the system at the time. I blamed myself. I was ashamed and confused. I thought I was strong but felt powerless. The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways. In one case I was preyed upon and raped by a superior officer.”
“I stayed silent for many years, but later in my career, as the military grappled with the scandals, and their wholly inadequate responses, I felt the need to let some people know I, too, was a survivor. I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled. I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.” McSally retired as a colonel.
The military has waged a years-long effort to combat sexual assault and harassment, while U.S. lawmakers have passed laws intended to improve how cases are handled.
McSally has consistently advocated that those who allege sexual wrongdoing be heard. During Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court, for example, she said the woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers should be respectfully heard.
McSally revealed last year to the Wall Street Journal that she herself was sexually abused as a teen by her high school track coach.
The abuse, she said, came after the death of her father, during a traumatic and defining period of her life that she frequently references when talking to voters.
To cope with the pain of losing her father, she turned to running and other exercises. She said her coach took advantage of her through “emotional manipulation.” The coach has denied the allegation.
In 2014, while running for Congress, McSally revealed she had been the victim of a stalker in response to a TV ad intended to help her Democratic rival. At the time, McSally said she had threats made against her “and wasn’t even safe in my own home or my car where my stalker broke in and held me in a hostage-like situation.”
McSally said her personal experience in the Air Force motivated her to make recommendations to leaders to advocate for changes while serving in the military and in Congress.
She said all commanders should be trained and encouraged to prosecute perpetrators.