Sexual Assault In The Military
“He’s a good sailor, do you really want to ruin his career?” That question still echoes through my mind. It was the first thing I was asked when I told a fellow sailor that I had been sexually assaulted. Those words crushed that little bit of hope I had left; the words that told me that I mattered. I had little confidence that my command would investigate my case without their personal feelings getting involved, so I never reported; I didn’t report that incident or any of the others that followed. From being told “your booty looks soft I want to touch it,” to having private pictures posted on the internet, to being drugged and date raped, I experienced all of this and still kept my mouth shut. It felt as if those men were draped in a cloth of protection while I was left out on my own—that no matter what I did, it would never be good enough. That what mattered more to my superiors was the careers of those men who had assaulted me, more than my own career, more than my safety, and more than the sanctity of my body.
Looking back at my military career, thinking of what happened to me, it was reminiscent of swimming in open water but being circled by sharks—waiting until I couldn’t tread water anymore to finally attack. I had been sexually assaulted as a civilian and I reported. The difference here was that I trusted the civilian justice system to investigate it. I knew that a neutral investigation was their job—to look at only the facts and the evidence presented to them—but I struggled to have that same confidence when it came to my military sexual trauma.
In civilian sexual assault cases, the police are called, an investigation is carried out, attorneys are involved, a trial ensues. At the end of the trial, a judge or jury makes a decision based on the evidence presented, and no one knows the victim or the assailant.
When an assault happens in the Navy, it is investigated by NCIS. NCIS reports back to the captain and the captain decides if they will go forward with the charges. If they decide not to, that decision is reviewed by the higher-ups. If the decision is made to go forward, they have an investigating officer gather statements and present them to the captain. A decision is then made off of those statements[2].
In 2018, around 13,000 women and 7,500 men experienced some form of sexual assault in the United States Military.[1] While there has been an increase in the reporting of sexual assaults (13% of sexual assaults were reported in 2018, compared to 10% in 2016 [3]), there is still a large number of incidents not being reported. There are numerous reasons as to why individuals decline to report, a common one being that the survivor doesn’t trust their command, which was the case for me. This could change if the necessary changes are made to the Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA), where sexual assault cases in the military would be handled the same way civilian sexual assault cases are. NCIS would investigate the incident but, instead of reporting back to the officer in charge, it would be given to a trained prosecutor who would then decide if there was enough evidence to move forward with the charges. These changes to the MJIA have been presented since 2013 and were recently presented to Congress on June 11, 2019. It will need to be reviewed and considered by a committee before being sent to the Senate.
When I heard that this was a possibility, it gave me hope for future service members that if the unthinkable did happen to them, it would be investigated thoroughly and in line with due process. This would mean that survivors would face less fear of retribution from their command and fellow service members. Making these changes to MJIA would also mean that decisions would no longer be based on whether or not they had been a “good” service member, or if their attacker had been a “better” service member. Sexual assault cases would finally fall into the hands of experienced prosecutors and investigators who were trained to deal with it properly, and who could go forward without the blindfold of Lady Justice wrapped tightly around their eyes. Had this been an option during any of my assaults, maybe things would have gone differently. Maybe I would’ve had the courage to come forward and report them. Maybe my mental health wouldn’t have fallen to pieces. Maybe there wouldn’t have been a sexual assault to report in the first place.
Military sexual trauma survivors need support. They need support from their command to allow their cases to be taken to outside resources, and they need to be believed by their command and their fellow service members. After six years of trying to get these changes enacted, it’s time. It’s time that Congress demonstrates that they care about service members and sexual assault and that they’ll make the changes necessary to protect all military personnel.
While it won’t be an automatic remedy to sexual assault, it will open the door to a new world of possibilities. While sexual assault in the military is slowly coming to light, it doesn’t seem like it is taken as seriously as it should be. This can be noted by the nomination of General John Hyten for Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice-Chair. This nomination was clouded by accusations of sexual assault, yet was only touched on during his confirmation hearing, implying that it is still not taken seriously by those in positions of power. If the changes to the MJIA are passed, the impact would bring about a huge change for hundreds of thousands of service members and would be instrumental in making a safer military for women and men. It would show that—for once—those in charge are taking sexual assault seriously. That each service member matters and no one is more important than the other. That each individual is valued and will be treated equally. That every individual who puts on that uniform in the morning will be protected, even if it’s from their own.
2 https://navylive.dodlive.mil/2013/04/23/what-are-my-options-if-i-have-been-sexually-assaulted/
3 https://sapr.mil/public/docs/reports/FY16_Annual/FY16_SAPRO_Annual_Report.pdf