Military Rape Speech 4 by Congresswoman Jackie Speier.wmv

Mister/Madame Speaker-I rise today to once again highlight the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military.
But first I want to mention the disturbing Government Accountability Office report released last week which showed that patients and staff have been raped and sexually assaulted at VA facilities.
284 reports of sexual assault occurred between January 2007 and July 2010. 67 were classified as rape, 185 as inappropriate touching, 13 as forced oral sex, 8 as forceful medical examinations and 11 as other.
While this is not as widespread as rape and sexual assault in the military, it is yet another example where government failed to protect the men and women who serve our nation in uniform. I believe that one assault is one too many.
VA facilities should be a place for aid and comfort, not abuse.
The House Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing on this issue Monday. Congress must make it a priority to hold the VA accountable and ensure this never happens again.
As I said during my last speech, I have set up an e-mail account so survivors of rape and sexual assault in the military could share their stories with me. The address is stopmilitaryrape@mail.house.gov. Again, that's stopmilitaryrape@mail.house.gov.
Today I want to share the story of Private Jessica Kenyon.
Private Kenyon served in the Army from August 2005 until August 2006. Her allegation is as follows.
During training at Fort Eustis, Private Kenyon's teaching sergeant began to harass her. He constantly touched her, and made sexual jokes and comments to her. She did not believe it would be effective to report the teaching sergeant because her unit commander was openly misogynistic. He was known to say "this unit never had any problems until females came into it."
In December 2005, while Private Kenyon was home for the holidays, she was raped by a member of the Army National Guard. At that point, she reported both the sexual harassment by the drill instructor and the rape to an Army sexual assault response coordinator. The Army official advised her to put the rape "on the back burner" and focus on the sexual harassment. Private Kenyon then discussed the rape with Command, who advised that it would be used against her in promotional reviews if she chose to pursue prosecution.
After she reported the harassment and rape, she was ostracized and retaliated against by her fellow soldiers. This retaliation followed her to her next assignment, Camp Humphreys, Korea. When she arrived, the sergeant advised that he had received calls warning him about her. He then made a unit-wide announcement cautioning everyone that they "should be careful who you talk to because they might report you." The sergeant and others engaged in ongoing sexual harassment of Private Kenyon.
In the spring of 2006, one soldier, a specialist and squad leader, sexually assaulted Private Kenyon. He put his hand under her shirt and on her breasts and tried to make her touch his penis. She fought him off.
Private Kenyon reported the assault to Command. The assailant denied the sexual assault and failed a lie detector test as a result. He then recanted his testimony and admitted to the harassment. He was charged with "lying on a sworn statement" and given only a non-judicial punishment. He was demoted two ranks but remained on active duty.
The assailant got to keep his job. Private Kenyon got Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Again, I invite survivors to tell their stories by writing to stopmilitaryrape@mail.house.gov.

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News & Politics

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• congresswoman jackie speier
• military rape
• sexual assault
• PTSD
• harassment
• harass
• house floor

[Truthspeaker420]

one assault is one too many and there have been about 19,000 rapes every year.those are just the ones that are reported.only 13.5% of rape victims report it.this has to stop only we as american citizens can make these facts known so that people can take action to protect the women and men that serve our country.I don't agree with the wars but i certainly don't agree with allowing thousands of women and men that are fighting our wars being submitted to be violated sexually & verbally