Politics and Activism
It's Time To Reform The Military, For Spc. Vanessa Guillen, For ALL Victims Of Abuse And Harassment
Victims deserve to be heard, not silenced.
04 July
First and foremost, I would like for everyone who reads this article to pause for a moment of remembrance of Spc. Vanessa Guillen.
<p>Vanessa Guillen deserved to live. If there is one sentence that you read in this article, I pray that it was that one. She was a beautiful and strong-willed soldier living the life she had imagined just a decade prior. She was officially declared missing on April 23, 2020, and on July 1, 2020, a body that would <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/07/03/887128883/fbi-reveals-new-details-in-the-case-of-missing-fort-hood-pfc-vanessa-guillen" target="_blank">later be identified as Vanessa's</a> was found.</p><p><div id="div-gpt-2646328398-content-ad" class="ad"><script>
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</div></p><p>This article isn't to write about her story. Her story is still unfolding, and I don't want her family to endure any extra pain by re-writing the gruesome and heart-wrenching details of the end of her life that has been written by other websites. The Guillen family, and Vanessa herself, deserve to have justice. Her family deserves peace.</p><p><strong>This article is to write to inform everybody regardless of service connection, that this should have never happened. Vanessa deserved her life, she deserved a future, and she deserved to live.</strong></p><p>As of this moment, there is no possible way for me to count how many posts are written under the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillen. Countless women and men have opened up an extraordinarily deep portion of their lives, bringing up past traumas, emotions, and stories from an immense amount of active service members and veterans, <a href="https://www.theodysseyonline.com/sexual-harassment-in-the-military-and-why-we-need-to-talk-about-it" target="_blank">myself included</a>. Too many individuals have faced an account of either sexual harassment or sexual assault. It's one of the most confusing and mind-shattering events that can happen to somebody. </p><p>Those who are affected by these traumas are granted free mental health care for life through the VA system. That itself is a perfect explanation of how traumatic any unwanted sexual encounter can be — it is bad enough that the VA provides free care for an individual's life.</p><p><div class="js--ga-impression-newsletter-cta-content">
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</div></p><p>However, there is a major problem with the fact that this is still occurring. There is a major problem with the fact that women and men alike are being taken less seriously as each day passes. How many more women or men are going to be voluntarily joining a service that cares more about a bolt than the life of one of their own? </p><p>This is not to say that this only happens in the military, because that is just not true. Sexual harassment and sexual assault see no discrimination towards anybody, regardless of gender. However, the number of cases that get "swept under the rug" is absolutely sickening. </p><p>In some situations, service members are graced with an amazing chain of command, leading to cases being resolved and justice for those affected. </p><p><strong>But far too often, that isn't the case.</strong></p><p>Most people are told that "It's your word against his" or "How do we know that this isn't a false allegation?" How is it fair for someone in a position of power to display little to no amount of concern for those who come to them in times of need? These are questions that require an answer immediately.</p><p>In the following few days, I'm confident that the Army will state that their <a href="https://www.armymwr.com/programs-and-services/resources/sharp" target="_blank">SHARP program</a> is good and in compliance. To be fair, it probably is. </p><p>However, I have a counter argument.</p><p>It's not the SAPR or SHARP programs we have a problem with. </p><p>We have a problem with upper leadership who don't want their reputation ruined by cases being investigated.</p><p>In my time in the Navy, I had a harassment and assault incident that lasted over three months. I begged my LPO, who didn't believe me and told me to talk it out with my harasser. After I forced myself to leave the shop on my own, telling others WHAT and HOW I was going to handle things, I had to inform the CMDCM at my command. He bluntly told me that he would "have a talk" with him and if I "ever needed to cry" that I could come up to his office and use his couch." </p><p>I don't want to cry. </p><p>Victims do not want to cry. </p><p>We want answers. </p><p>We want to be supported when we are wronged. </p><p>Women, men, victims are not just tired, but it is a thing of the past to accept someone else telling us that nobody will listen to us. Victims are tired of being suppressed and further harassed for possibly causing friction in their command. If someone is harassed, that victim has the right to pursue a case, unrestricted or restricted. Nobody, regardless of rank, has the power to suppress a case unless it is their own and they are the victim.</p><p>Finally, there is NO REASON why somebody should tell a victim that they should not pursue a case. </p><p><strong>That is the victim's choice.</strong></p><p>As a female veteran of the United States Navy, friends of service members actively serving, and a strong woman who wants a better world for the generations to come,<em> </em>I am calling to reform the way that any forms of SAPR/SHARP cases are handled. Immediately. <em></em></p><p>Send this to your politician. Send this to your senators, representatives, whoever. We need a stronger change by those in higher powers than our superiors.</p><p>However, do not forget the leaders who truly care about us. Thank those who aren't like the others, and remember them. They are the backbone of the military, and they deserve the world. </p><p>To the toxic leaders, your time is up. Change your ways and support your peers. There is no place in the world for people who think that harassment and assault are "right of passage in the man's world." </p><p>To the victims, be a force to reckon with, and use your voice to the best of your power.</p>
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