What were you wearing?

What were you wearing? This is why women shouldn’t be in the military. Where was your battle buddy? Oh, you were assaulted? Well...were you drunk? What did you think was going to happen? Were you flirting with him? Did you actually say, “no!”? Do you really think that sounds like him? Was it dark out? Did you have a pony tail? Did you make him stop mid-act? Did you have buyers remorse? Really, it’s just your word against his, isn’t it? Does he outrank you? What did you think you were going to gain by tearing down your superior? He has a family, you know.

Why not do everybody a favor and drop the charges? Do you really think this is worth his wife finding out? You’re really not the kind of girl who can be taken seriously in this kind of case. He has this stellar career and you’re what...a PFC? Just move on. Ignore it. Are you sure that’s what happened? That’s just the way he is. Just keep your head down when you’re around him. Do you want to want to be known for this? Let’s not waste anybody else’s time. Just leave him alone and you’ll be fine. In fact, I think it might be wise to transfer you. Your job was going to end here anyway. But you’re a man. This is for the best, just a quiet exit. Come on, do you really want to deal with this right now? She was asking for it.

At least 25% of women serving in the U.S. military have been sexually assaulted, and up to 80% have been sexually harassed. Junior enlisted women were at the highest risk for sexual assault. The national odds of a woman being sexually assaulted in her lifetime are 1 in 17. But for young military women ages 17 to 20, it is 1 in 8. And for 21- to 24-year-olds, it is 1 in 11.

While the vast majority of sexual assault reports filed each year involve a male perpetrator and a female victim, Pentagon research has estimated that while 43 percent of women report their assaults, only 17 percent of men do. There were 7,825 sexual assaults involving service members as victims or subjects in 2019, a 3% increase compared to 2018 & received 1,021 formal sexual harassment complaints, a 10% increase. What did they tell you? #iamvanessaguillen

Inspired and compiled thanks to the voices of the very strong bad ass Veterans speaking out 🗣 Cait Koffarnus thank you for starting this thread.