From Draft NOtices, January-March 2021
Military Sexual Assault: The Struggle for Justice Continues
— Isidro Ortiz, Ph.D.
As noted in an earlier issue of Draft NOtices, last spring the family of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen organized rallies outside Fort Hood Army Base and initiated a social media campaign (#FindVanesssa) to pressure officials at Fort Hood to investigate her disappearance. The soldier had informed the family that she was experiencing sexual harassment but had not reported it due to a fear of retaliation. The family’s actions spurred an internal investigation that revealed she had been murdered by a fellow soldier and an accomplice. After the discovery of her murder, the family continued to struggle for accountability and justice. The effort generated extensive attention and support and catalyzed, among other things, the introduction of legislation by members of Congress. Leading the charge was Congresswoman Jackie Spier, who on September 16 joined other members of Congress to introduce the “I am Jessica Guillen Act of 2020.”
During the last two months of 2020, the family’s struggle in the wake of institutional betrayal has sparked institutional actions. First, the Secretary of the Army appointed a committee, the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee, and charged it with investigating the “command climate and culture and its impact on the safety, welfare and readiness of the soldiers and units” at the base. The committee’s final report, released November 6, concluded: “The existing command climate at fort Hood is neither conducive to nor adequately supportive of the prevention of incidences of sexual harassment and sexual assault.” Moreover, during the period covered by the review, the committee reported that “no commanding general or subordinate echelon commander chose to intervene proactively and mitigate known risks of high crime, sexual assault and sexual harassment.”
The committee also found “strong evidence” that officials at the base were significantly under-reporting incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment at the base.
In addition to reporting its findings, the committee also noted the consequences of the “deficiencies in the climate.” According to the committee, these consequences included victims of sexual assault “fearing the inevitable consequences of ostracism, shunning and shaming, harsh treatment, and indelible damage to their career.” Thus many “left the Army or planned to do so at the earliest opportunity.”
Also, many soldiers felt that Fort Hood was “not safe.” Indeed, in this context of fear, several non-commissioned officers and their soldiers had “chosen to go AWOL to get out of Fort Hood.” Others expressed their feeling that the Army “did not value” them.
The committee did not hold any person responsible for the climate. Instead, the committee declared that the problem had “developed over time out of neglect and persisted over a series of commands that predated 2018 when a toxic culture was allowed to harden and set.”
To address these deficiencies, the committee made 70 recommendations, which were accepted by the Secretary of the Army. Three recommendations and findings “were offered in a spirt of constructive improvements, not to provide a basis for punitive actions.” Nevertheless, on December 8, 14 Army leaders, including commanders and other leaders at Fort Hood, were dismissed or suspended. The officers included Maj. Gen Scott Elliott, who had been in command at the time of the disappearance of Specialist Guillen. The Army also established a new policy on missing soldiers. Moreover, the Secretary of the Army created a new group, the “People First Task Force,” which would be responsible for analyzing the problems revealed by the investigation and reassessing Army policy.
These actions, especially dismissal and suspension of so many officers, is unprecedented in this century. As the attorney for the family noted in a subsequent media report, “People have been trying to do this for years and [it] never worked.”
The Guillen family remains determined to push for additional changes, urging congressional approval of the “I Am Vanessa Act.” And, it continues to retain the support of members of Congress. For example, on December 8, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia announced in a press release that she planned to inquire about how the Army would implement the changes and wrote that “all responsible must be held accountable.” She also declared that the report was “just a first step in making sure that what happened to Vanessa Guillen never happens again to another soldier.”
The Guillen family’s struggle and other public reporting of cases of assault and harassment have generated unprecedented attention to and concern with sexual assault and harassment in the military. The Secretary of the Army has declared that these developments, specifically the report of the committee, will lead to a culture change in the Army. Continued monitoring may have a decisive impact on whether that actually occurs in the future.
This article is from Draft NOtices, the newsletter of the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (http://www.comdsd.org/index.php/draft-notices).
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