In 2011, it was estimated by the Department of Defense that 19,000 military service men and women were raped by another uniformed person. The numbers for this year; 26,000. These are our governments OWN NUMBERS! I was 18 when I was raped by another soldier. When I told my Chain of Command, they hid me and shut me up. I was ostracized in Germany. Anyone who has been raped knows being alone after that is the WORST thing you could do to them! I was just a kid! I wanted to serve my country! I did not have to suffer in silence for so long. This has to STOP. I am about to start pulling together my testimony for our hearing on Monday at the Capitol. I am really honored I was asked to testify, and I am grateful to be doing it with my battle buddy Victoria Sanders and my fave Woman Veteran leader in CA, Lindsey Sin. I look forward to sharing my personal experiences, and listening to the other panelists along with the leaders of our state. California WILL lead the way. We WILL stop making our California military (Guard and Reserves, anyone?) rape victims report to their bosses (chain of command)! They should be able to get emergency, professional aide, NOT unsafe reporting options to silence them, not cover ups and Good ole boys lying to protect one another. Rapists rape an average of 300 times in their lives. Why do we keep letting them out and back into our neighborhoods? Lets STOP doing that. If my daughter is raped, I am afraid she will lose 20 years of her life like I did or worse.....she may commit suicide or be murdered like so many of my Military Sisters. My kids are not joining. They are traumatized from living a messed up military life. Lets fix this! Our military is better than this shame. By the way, other countries have changed their policies so victims can report to law enforcement and hospitals, and their chains of command are kept out of it. I bet they even allow the victim to keep his/her anonynimity! What a concept!
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 16:28:37 +0000
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