#IamVanessaGuillen tag trends after soldier’s death
Service members tell of sexual assaults
As an investigation into the death of Spc. Vanessa Guillén continues, service members and veterans take to social media to share stories of sexual assault and harassment in the U.S. military.
Under the hashtag #IamVanessaGuillen, users call for justice for Guillén and an end to what her family and advocates call an “epidemic” of sexual violence in the armed services.
“The #IamVanessaGuillen hashtag, I think, is really the first time that military men and women have felt empowered to speak out. The military hasn’t had their #MeToo movement yet, until now,” said Col. Don Christensen, former chief prosecutor of the Air Force and president of Protect Our Defenders, a national organization dedicated to ending rape and sexual assault in the military. “The fear of retaliation has silenced too many survivors, and I think this could be a potential sea change that breaks down the resistance of the generals and admirals who want to continue with the status quo.”
Guillén, 20, a Houston native who worked at Fort Hood, went missing in April near the Texas military base. Her body was identified Sunday night after human remains were found June 30, according to her family’s attorney. Federal and military investigators said she was killed and dismembered by a fellow soldier who took his own life last week. Cecily Aguilar, 22, a civilian, was arrested and charged with allegedly helping hide the body, according to a criminal complaint.
Guillén’s family, joined by friends and others in the Killeen, Texas, community, demanded justice and a thorough search for the missing soldier.
The family maintained that Guillén was sexually harassed by a superior at
Fort Hood. Attorney Natalie Khawam said this supervisor was Aaron David Robinson, the man officials suspect in Guillén’s disappearance.
Mayra Guillén said last week that her sister spoke with their mother about experiencing sexual harassment and being afraid during her time at Fort Hood.
Army officials said there is no evidence linking sexual harassment to Guillén’s disappearance, and they invited a team to the post to inspect its Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program, or SHARP.
The family said the two are intertwined and called for a congressional investigation.
Sunday, Khawam said sexual harassment in the military is an “epidemic” and demanded attention from Congress.
“You can’t turn a blind eye anymore,” she said.
Khawam and Christensen were angered by Fort Hood’s response and handling of the investigation.
“The Army’s number one concern was about damage control to them versus helping Vanessa Guillén and helping her family,” Christensen said. “Vanessa’s family has said that she told them she was being sexually harassed, and (then) she’s murdered. … For the Army to say, ‘Well, there’s no credible evidence that she was sexually harassed’ is just the dismissive attitude that they show time and again when confronted with sexual harassment . ... It’s just another clarion call why we need to really reform the military process for handling these cases.”
On social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, military members and veterans used #IamVanessaGuillen to offer support to the Guillén family and share their own stories of sexual assault while in uniform.
Many recounted being raped by a superior, sometimes being drugged or abused in their own bunks at night. Several were young, some saying they had just finished training.
Others said they were threatened with the destruction of their military career if they tried to report.
All stressed that what the family alleges about Guillén’s experience is not unique. And that change is overdue.
The U.S. military said it’s devoted to preventing sexual harassment and assault, as it noted in its 2019 fiscal year report. Yet the number of survivors of sexual assault has remained steady or increased in some years.
Reports of sexual assault in the military increased 3% in 2019, the Department of Defense reported in April as part of an annual survey. A more comprehensive survey on sexual assault was released last year. That report, usually done every other year, is based on detailed surveys of troops. It found a 38% increase in assaults from 2016 to 2018 after years of focused effort and resources to eradicate such incidents.
“The numbers are appalling, they’re getting worse. The chain of command has for 30 plus years claimed that they were going to solve it, but instead of solving it, they have exacerbated the problem,” Christensen said.
“At the end of the day, very few offenders are held accountable . ... We know that there were over 20,000 sexual assaults involving active-duty men and women in 2019, but of those, only 138 were actually ever convicted of sexual assault.”
In a fact sheet of 2016-2020 statistics, Protect Our Defenders wrote that the rate of sexual assault and rape jumped by almost 40% from 2016 to 2018. “Of women who reported a penetrative sexual assault, 59% were assaulted by someone with a higher rank than them, and 24% were assaulted by someone in their chain of command,” the report said.
A third of those who reported assaults were discharged, typically within seven months.