AMERICA THE SHAMELESS- BriGette McCoy described how she was raped on her first military assignment, two weeks before her 19th birthday. She described how, later that year, she was raped by another soldier in her unit.
Then came sexual harassment by two officers -- including one who requested that she be moved to work directly for him, she said Wednesday.
Testifying before lawmakers, the former Army specialist described the "anguish" and "entrapment" she felt, and the horror of the ordeal that followed.
"I no longer have any faith or hope that the military chain of command will consistently prosecute, convict, sentence and carry out the sentencing of sexual predators in uniform without absconding justice somehow," she told the Senate Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on personnel.
"It even starts at recruitment," she said. "We have quite a few of our men and women that are being raped and sexually harassed during the recruitment process."
McCoy was one of four alleged victims who testified Wednesday about a problem the military has acknowledged.
About 19,000 men and women suffer sexual assault each year in the military, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, though he noted that only about 3,200 assaults were reported. About 10,700 of those cases -- 56% -- involved male victims in 2010, based on anonymous reporting collected by the military.
In painful, dramatic testimony, three women and one man, all of whom have left the military, described their suffering -- and explained why, in some cases, they never filed reports. They helped paint a picture of the military as a place where victims are often pressured to remain quiet or endure having their reputations and careers tarnished for coming forward. (Read the rest … including reaction from the military … here)
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 22
Pub: Mar 15, 2013
