That day in December of 2018, Amy Marsh celebrated the departure of another year and, with it, her first anniversary at Travis Air Force Base, northern California, USA
I had gone to live there in 2017, when her husband, an officer of Puerto Rican origin, was deployed to the base, which soon became their new home.
“Until that day, it was a very interesting experience, because these bases are like small-scale cities and there you have the opportunity to do many things for the community and connect with others. women, military wives, who also separated from their families because they married a member of the Army ”, he tells BBC Mundo.
However, what Amy did not imagine was that that night her life was about to change, that what was about to happen would almost destroy her marriage, would end l her husband’s military career and would leave both traces that, three years later, they have not yet fully overcome.
Some memories of that night are made blurred. Remember that there was too much alcohol.
“I drank too much”, she says.
She knows that there was an “after-party” and that her husband left her in charge of the officer that he considered his mentor, the highest ranking military man who had been his example and guide since they moved to the base.
“That The man abused the trust that my husband had in him and at that party he sexually assaulted me. There was no consent and I was too drunk to react, ”she recalls.
Amy says that after that night her trauma was so great that she decided to hide what had happened. When the weight of the situation began to affect her marriage, she decided to tell her husband what had happened, two months later.
“It was very difficult for both of us. Conversing with the chaplain at the base, we understood that we should not be silent. And we finally decided to tell it. We reported it and an investigation began that lasted for about two years. We fought in every way we could. But nothing happened “, he says.
One more
Amy’s is just one of the thousands of complaints received each year within the United States Armed Forces: the cases of men and women who claim to have suffered sexual abuse and assault within the military bases in the country.
It is also one of the voices of the victims that has even reached the United States Congress to demand that measures be taken against what many see as a “failed system “Within the military command to bring justice to these cases.
” It is a long-standing problem for which not yet an effective solution has been found ”, Colonel (r) Don Christensen , who was Attorney General told BBC Mundo of the United States Air Force and will leave office to defend victims of sexual abuse within the Army.
“For years, in the Armed Forces, the military has been more concerned with protecting commanders and the processes that bring justice to the victims and convict the alleged assailants. That is why I left my post and took the side of the victims ”, says the president of the NGO Protect Our Defenders (POD).
A widespread problem
Reports of sexual abuse in the United States Army have been increasing for years since 2006.
According to an anonymous survey conducted by the Pentagon, close of 20. 000 members of the military service or their relatives claim to have been sexually assaulted every year.
However, the average io of those who dare to report that total is very small.
In fact, in 2020 only a total of 7 were reported. 816 complaints of a gresiones s exuals in the country’s military installations, of which, 6. 290 involved serving officers.
As explained to BBC Mundo Andrew Morral , who has studied the subject for decades for the Rand Corporation (a think tank that advises the Pentagon), it is a phenomenon that is widely extended in almost all of the country’s military installations.
“There are places, however, where the risk is high -and higher than That would be expected based on the characteristics of the staff there. We find, for example, that the 34% of assaults sexual violence against women occurred in only five important bases of the Army ”, he points out.
However, according to the expert, the soldiers, the wives of the military and other women who serve in the Armed Forces are not the only victims of this situation.
“ In almost all cases, the risk of being sexually assaulted is correlated with age and rank . Thus, in addition to women, younger service members, the unmarried and sexual minorities are at especially high risk ”, he adds.
In this sense, one of the latest studies carried out by Morral suggests that almost half of all sexual assaults on military bases are carried out against people who do not describe themselves as heterosexual.
“This group seems to have a particularly high risk, since represent only about the 12% of the military population, but it is to them that the 50% of sexual assaults ”, he explains.
According to the expert this suggests that in large part it could be “facts related to hate crimes.”
“This is the case, for example, of sexual assaults against men, in which the 50% of the cases seem to be aimed at humiliating or doing moral damage ”, he says.
Causes and effects
Experts who have studied this type of sexual assault are still unable to fully understand its causes.
According to Morral, it could be treated from aspects related with discipline and good order within military bases to cultural elements.
“One of the things we do know is that the risk of sexual assault is closely linked to sexual harassment, which is something much more common and much more visible . Thus, in the units where people make a lot of sexual comments to each other or say things like that the boys there do not behave like men, these are the environments in which we are seeing more sexual assaults ”, he comments.
A military-level survey published last year suggested that alcohol consumption on bases was a contributing factor: it was behind the 62% of assaults on women.
According to Christensen, In this sense, another of the possible causes is that, in his opinion, “there is a cultural problem with misogyny in the Army.”
“In the Armed Forces, around the 80% are men and there are many men who do not believe that women belong to the Army ”, he says.
A report published last January indicates that the number of reported sexual assaults s in the country’s military academies had increased 50% from 2016, which caused alarm by suggesting that it is so widespread between future military leaders and current ranks.
Studies on the phenomenon suggest that its impact could be negative for the United States Armed Forces, and potentially, become a national security problem in a country that has spent more than US $ 200 millions in the last decade in prevention efforts, education programs and resources for victims of sexual assault.
“Beyond the psychological impact this can have on the lives of soldiers or their relatives who suffered these assaults, there is also the repercussion it has on the Armed Forces themselves as inst itución “, says Morral.
” It is not surprising that the soldiers leave the army sooner than they would have done otherwise. And according to our studies, the army is losing on average about 8. 000 people per year due to sexual assaults ”, he adds.
Problems for justice
Despite being a widespread problem within the armed forces, the mechanisms to bring justice to the victims are limited.
Only in 350 cases of almost 8. 01 complaint s that were filed last year were accused alleged perpetrators of a crime.
According to Protect Our Defenders, this has led the victims – and the soldiers themselves – to lose confidence in the military justice system.
“The US military justice system is an ark system ico that most of our allies have abandoned years ago ”explains Christensen.
“ It is based on the justice system of King George III, from the time before the Revolutionary War ”, he adds.
According to the lawyer, this current system gives commanders a “speedy prosecution” authority in the case of sexual assaults.
“It is the military commander, not a lawyer, who makes the decision on how a person will be charged, if the charges will go to trial and a large number of other decisions that in the American civil system, prosecutors and judges take over, ”he says.
The power of the commanders came to even being able to annul the jury’s conviction , although after the efforts of Chri stensen Congress removed that authority from them in 2013.
However, it is still in the hands of the commanders of the person accused of sexually assaulting to make the decision whether there is evidence to take it judgment.
Other obstacles
This is not the only obstacle faced by people who suffer a sexual assault in a military installation in the United States.
According to the colonel, victims are also frequently discouraged from reporting or reporting abuses or retaliated against among them.
“The data show that more than 60% Of men and women who report sexual assault in the military may face retaliation. Retaliation is often the end of a career. One in three women who report a sexual assault in the military are forced to abandon their career within a year of reporting ”, she says.
Amy says something that was similar to what happened to her husband, after they both made the complaint.
“They didn’t believe me, they tried to blame me for what happened. And my husband’s career was destroyed. You will never be able to make a military career. Before this, we loved military life and we dreamed that we could have done incredible things, but there is no possibility of that anymore, ”he laments.
The story is different for the alleged aggressors, which in Christensen’s criteria can contribute to the foundations of the problem.
“Traditionally, commanders have failed to truly hold superior officers who sexually harassed subordinates accountable and that sends a message to lower-ranking people that sexual assault is really not a big deal, ”he says.
“ So when a general sexually harasses a subordinate or the wife of his subordinates or has a relationship Inappropriate with them, are often allowed to simply withdraw . And that sends a bad message ”, she adds.
Amy remembers that it was the case of the officer that she claims attacked her.
“We know that he lost a line, so he stopped being the highest ranking military man, and had to retire, but still he left the Army with honors,” he recalls.
Looking for answers
After the assassination of private Vanessa Guillen last year, the White House ordered an investigation into sexual abuse in the Army and this year, President Joe Biden created an independent commission to which he gave a deadline of 90 days to propose changes within the armed forces.
At the beginning of this month, the commission formally recommended to the Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III that allegations of sexual assault and harassment be transferred to special prosecutors outside the chain of command in the Army.
Austin gave his go-ahead to the measure – an unprecedented step for a senior military chief – and the week before, it was also approved by Biden .
However, despite having the support of the Pentagon and the White House, it will be up to Congress to change the military law.
For years, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand , Democrat of New York, has been advocating for reform that would allow not only prosecution of sexual assault outside the military chain of command, but also other serious crimes within, but the legislation has faced opposition from two strong powers in parliament.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island, and its highest ranking member, James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma, have systematically blocked the possibility of the project being discussed.
In their arguments, they claim that taking power from the commanders over these cases hinders order and military discipline in the bases.
“There is a tremendous hesitation in doing something opposite to what the high command of the military wants. But the data has shown year after year that the military leadership is not addressing this problem adequately, ”says Christensen.
“The military has spent more time fighting to keep commanders in control than fighting sexual abuse in their ranks. Meanwhile, the number of attacks continues to grow. And that is a shame within our troops “, he adds.
For victims of abuse like Amy, a solution to this problem is increasingly urgent.
“They left a mark on me forever, my husband ended his career in the Armed Forces and we do not feel that justice has been on our side. I loved my life as a military wife and felt it was a high honor that our children should follow. But at this point, I don’t think that neither my husband nor I would allow our little boy to enlist when he grows up in the Army. We don’t want what we’ve been through ”, he says.
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