San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
#MeToo moment emerges for military women
WASHINGTON — As the #MeToo movement gained ground, propelled by stories of women in Hollywood, the news media, restaurants and other industries, women in the military have remained in the shadows.
Then came the killing of Army Spc. Vanessa Guillén, whose remains were discovered last month about 25 miles from Fort Hood in Central Texas — the victim, officials said, of a fellow soldier. Her death has attracted the attention of the nation — veterans, active-duty service members and civilians alike.
Women in the military and those who advocate for them say the horrific nature of the crime, perpetrated against the backdrop of a racial equality movement sweeping the country, has galvanized many women to the cause. The persistence of Guillén’s family also has kept front and center a case that might otherwise have left them in grief-stricken retreat.
“I think generally the American moment we’re in is inspiring collective action in a way that we’ve needed,” said Allison Jaslow, a former Army captain and veteran of the Iraq War who has tried for years to raise awareness of the issues. “Women are tired of how women are still getting deprioritized and have lost patience.”
She said she saw a direct line from Breonna Taylor, a Black woman who was killed by police, to Guillén, who was Latina, to “the women at home struggling to get our society to respond to their needs.”
Guillén, 20, was last seen on April 22 at Fort Hood. Only on July 2 did the Army reveal that she was killed by another soldier who then tried to dispose of her dismembered remains.
That soldier, Army Spc. Aaron Robinson, killed himself with a pistol as police approached him this month. Authorities arrested his girlfriend, Cecily Aguilar, after Justice Department officials revealed in court documents that Robinson told her he killed Guillén
with a hammer and that the couple then tried to dismember and burn her remains.
The revelations sparked immediate and widespread outrage and grief. In Fort Worth, Houston and Austin, artists created murals in Guillén’s memory. From South Sioux City, Nebraska; to Baldwin Park, California; to East Los Angeles, several makeshift memorial sites have been set up by community members. On Twitter, the hashtag #JusticeForVanessaGuillén trended for days.
A group of female veterans created a forum for women affiliated with the military that is calling for a congressional investigation into her death. It quickly gained thousands of members. Actor Rose McGowan, a prominent figure in the #MeToo movement in Hollywood, advocated for Guillén on Twitter. The case has made mainstream podcasts and programs on the right and left, from crime chronicler Nancy Grace to the feminist podcast “Courting Disaster.”
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, said in a statement last week, “We owe it to those who put on the uniform, and to their families, to put an end to sexual harassment and assault in the military and hold perpetrators accountable.”
It is, women from the military say, their Black Lives Matter moment.
“We have been swept under the rug so often,” said Lucy Del Gaudio, who served in the Army between 1990 and 1998 and was assaulted. A friend called her when the case in Fort Hood came to light and said he saw her face in the victim. She is now working to gather female veterans, service members and civilians to push for a deeper investigation into Guillén’s killing.
“The way the social media worked in 1992, I didn’t have any way to have proof in the pudding,” Del Gaudio said. “We now have the proof and means.”
It is rare to speak to a female veteran or current service member who has not experienced sexual harassment or worse, from the elite military academies to basic training to the barracks to the highest ranks of service.
In 2019, the Defense Department found, there were 7,825 sexual assault reports involving service members as victims or subjects, a 3 percent increase over 2018. Reports in which survivors confidentially disclosed an assault without starting an official investigation rose by 17 percent, to 2,126 reports.
Military culture and its rules make it extremely hard for women to seek and obtain justice in these cases or for the military to curb the ongoing problem of harassment and assault. Jaslow said in a culture where “good order and discipline” and hierarchy rule, it is challenging to advocate for accountability. Military women are at once expected to be tough enough to face down harassment and blamed for entering a male-dominated workplace where they have long fought to be accepted as equals.
“There are reports from Vanessa’s
family that she was being harassed, but for some reason she did not feel comfortable making a credible report,” said Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., who spent 20 years in the Navy. “A lot of women are hesitant to make reports and don’t necessarily feel that when others make reports they have gotten justice.”
There have been fights on Capitol Hill over changes to the way these cases are adjudicated. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., have repeatedly tried to pass legislation that would give military prosecutors — rather than commanders — the power to decide which sexual assaults to try in the military.
A new twist in the debate is the inclusion of young, female veterans who attended elite service academies.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., and Luria this month gave emotional testimony during a House Armed Services Committee hearing in support of a measure to create a pilot Office of the Chief Prosecutor at the academies for such incidents. Seven Republicans, many of whom were initially resistant, voted for the amendment to help it pass out of committee.
“I was harassed in the Navy and the academy,” said Sherrill, who went to the Naval Academy and served as a Navy helicopter pilot. “I have had so many friends come to me who tried to get justice who could not get it through the chain of command. I think Vanessa has just sort of brought so many of those emotions to a head.”
The surge of interest in the issue by nonmilitary women has been one of the most heartening developments to stem from the tragedy, advocates for Guillén say.
“We are now able to relate to the civilian community and say, ‘Yeah, guys, this is happening; this has always been happening,’” said Army Capt. Victoria Kositz, a West Point graduate. “I see a shift in the conversation from, ‘You should have known, going into the military,’ to, ‘This is an outrage; let’s make sure it never happens again.’”