When I was a midshipman, I was a witness for a rape accusation (the guy literally bragged to me about what he did). Men in my company who had known me for years prior to school refused to believe this guy would do something like rape someone. The local paper ran an article 1/
after the guy and his skeezy lawyer leaked details of the case. These details basically made the victim and the witnesses (including me) look like whores who were banging the entire brigade (not true). Even though the paper did not print any names except for the accused 2/
everyone knew who was being referenced. The men in my company printed out the article and covered the victim’s the door and our company spaces with it. I was specifically pressured by someone who I thought was my friend to retract my statement. I remember him screaming at me 3/
in front of my whole squad at noon meal that I was lying and it was a conspiracy with me, another witness, and the victim to get this guy kicked out of the Academy. A conspiracy theory was more believable than this guy raping a girl...4/
I am not saying I was a perfect angel at school. I was immature and tried to do whatever it took to get people to like me. Lying about a rape, however, was not one of those things. The scary part about all of this was that I was a WITNESS. I wasn’t even the victim 5/
and I was getting ostracized, yelled at in a public forum, called names, etc. all because the men (and even my roommate at the time) couldn’t not fathom that this guy could rape a girl. THAT is where the system fails. There is a perpetual belief that false accusations 6/
occur all the time and women are just out to ruin men’s careers. Instead of the default mindset being this woman is telling the truth, at all ranks, the default is usually that it’s a false accusation or a “misunderstood situation” because alcohol or something was involved. 7/
The legitimate trauma women face coming forward for sexual assault/harassment is exacerbated by uncaring, uninterested, or skeptical chains of command. SHARP training is ineffective and a waste of time. Sexual assault/harassment needs to be treated like drug pops 8/
Zero tolerance from the command. Period. I am not saying that legal protections/processes shouldn’t be observed. They absolutely should be, but every level of the chain of command needs to change the default mindset to PROTECT the victim not assume it’s a “misunderstanding” or 9/
“withhold judgement/action until the investigation is complete.” If a woman has enough guts to come forward, put the protections in place immediately. The accused will still have their due process and depending on the existence of evidence may even be permitted to 10/
continue serving. But at least the woman won’t be murdered in the armory, dismembered, and encased in concrete. It is not hard for a commander to issue an MPO or even move personnel around to different shops. These steps need to be automatic actions as soon as accusation 11/
occurs at minimum. Yes a piece of paper won’t stop a person hell-bent on murdering someone, but it’s a start. It shows the command is taking it seriously while the investigation is carried out. It gives the victims confidence that at least some protect will be put in place 12/
I don’t have all the answers, but changing the default mindset to supporting/believing the victim vice assuming “false accusation” starts with the chain of command and MUST be enacted at the SNCO and NCO level. 13/
WE HAVE TO DO BETTER. Women (and men) should not be getting victimized all over again for reporting. They should not be murdered. They shouldn’t go missing. They should feel confident to report any reprisals to their chain of command....A failure of a chain of command should 14/
result in removal/relief. Please keep #VanessaGuillen and her family in your hearts. Let her death not be in vain. If you are a service member and your automatic thought towards a report is “theyre lying,” you are the problem as much as the perpetrators /
