Photo: Sergio Flores / Getty Images
WASHINGTON – Two Democratic legislators presented again this Thursday the bipartisan bill “I am Vanessa Guillén,” that would make the investigation more strict and the punishment of sexual harassment and abuse in the United States Armed Forces more severe.
Vanessa Guillén , from 20 years old, she was an Army soldier at Fort Hood in Texas when she disappeared on 22 April 2020. The young woman had indicated to her family that she suffered sexual harassment and her remains, dismembered and burned, were found on 30 of June of that year, about 32 kilometers from the base, where he died the same night he disappeared.
The Guillén family “turned the sentence into progress in memory of Vanessa”, said this Thursday the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. “There must be justice for Vanessa and for the many members of the armed forces who suffer from this epidemic of sexual harassment and assault.”
“This bipartisan bill makes the Armed Forces responsible for the safety of its members,” he added. “It is a step forward to ensure that no soldier or their families have to go through this suffering.”
Empower the victims to denounce
The bill presented by the Democratic representatives Markwayne Mullin , from Oklahoma, and Jackie Speier, from California, would transfer the prosecution of sexual harassment and abuse cases outside the chain of command and to a prosecutor’s office within each of the branches of the Armed Forces.
The initiative also seeks the employment of special investigators of cases of sexual abuse that are outside the chain of command of the plaintiffs and the accused and the establishment of an independent military crime for sexual harassment.
Ultimately, the bill seeks to empower soldiers to report sexual abuse or harassment of those who can be victims.
“We lost Vanessa in a horrific crime, to which was added the failure of the military ”, said Speier . “Investigative reports have found a broken and toxic culture in which sexual harassment and assault were widespread and tolerated.”
“Soldiers were afraid of report sexual violence for fear of retaliation, ”added Speier.
The Guillén family and their lawyer Natalie Khawam have criticized the Army for delays in the investigation after Vanessa disappeared and what they consider lack of transparency in the process that, under current laws, takes place within the chain of command in each military unit.
Mayra Guillén, one of Vanessa’s sisters, said that she and her family “had to fight for Vanessa and for all members of the Armed Forces who suffer from harassment and sexual abuse that have been occurring among the military. ”
“ The case of Vanessa caused all this mov iment, all this change, “he added. “Circumstances have led me to fight for something that I would never have imagined in my life.”
Violence sexual “is like a virus,” said Lupe, the other sister of the dead soldier. “It does not discriminate based on gender, race or personal beliefs.”
“Women and men who wear military uniforms should not fear for their safety,” he said. “My sister was sexually harassed and brutally murdered. We have to fight this. ”
Speier and Mullin propose that the Comptroller General – the office of Congress that audits the Executive Branch- review the military procedures in the search for missing soldiers , and that both that office and the Department of Defense make evaluations separate from military programs for the prevention and response to sexual harassment.
Representative Adam Smith , a Washington Democrat and chair of the House Armed Forces Committee, praised “the courage of the Guillén family throughout this year, not only in seeking justice but also in protecting others from this trauma. ”
“ This is a big problem for our troops, ”Smith added. “And it’s not just what was happening at Fort Hood, or at Fort Bragg. There is something fundamentally wrong with the way the Department of Defense cares for the men and women who protect us. This must change. ”
After the press conference to present the bill, family and relatives of Vanessa Guillén began a march through the streets of Washington to ask Congress to approve this bill, after the one presented in September of 2020.
And also to draw attention to the case of the Latin soldier , whose death generated a movement in the Army like the “Me Too” that shook Hollywood against sexual harassment and abuse.
By Jorge A. Bañales