Thursday, 09 July_Sexual assault in the US army has once again come under the spotlight as service members and veterans take to social media to share stories of sexual harassment in the military amid an investigation into the murder of a female soldier.
Army investigators said, this week, they identified human remains of a soldier who vanished from a base in Texas more than two months ago.
Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen, 20, had been missing since April and was last seen in the parking lot of her barracks at Fort Hood on April 22, according to the US Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID). Her remains were found June 30.
Guillen was killed by a hammer in the armory room where she worked. Her body was transported from the military installation by her killer, attorney Natalie Khawam said.
She was killed and dismembered by a superior, Aaron David Robinson, who took his own life last week, federal and military investigators have said.
Khawam said the family told her that Guillen had planned to file a harassment complaint against Robinson and that they believe Robinson became enraged when she told him that.
Under the hashtag #IamVanessaGuillen, military members, veterans and users call for justice for Guillen and an end to what her family and advocates call an "epidemic" of sexual violence in the armed services, the USA Today said.
They offered support to the Guillen family and share their own stories of sexual assault while in uniform.
Many recounted being raped by a superior, drugged or abused in their own bunks at night.
“The #IamVanessaGuillen hashtag, I think, is really the first time that military men and women have felt empowered to speak out. The military hasn’t had their #MeToo movement yet, until now," said Col. Don Christensen, former chief prosecutor of the Air Force and president of Protect Our Defenders, a national organization dedicated to ending rape and sexual assault in the military.
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