Susan Avila-Smith

Recent Activity

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  Susan signed the petition | 4 months ago

  Support Military Sexual Assault Survivors!
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  Susan signed the petition | about 1 year ago

  Tell Congress: Hold the Armed Forces Accountable for Rape, Sexual Assault and Harassment
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  Susan commented on the petition | about 1 year ago

  Tell Congress: Hold the Armed Forces Accountable for Rape, Sexual Assault and Harassment

  I have been working to help and support those men and women who have been raped in the military since 1996. Every two years I need to train the new Congressional Representatives on the issues of Military Sexual Trauma. There is no "corporate memory".
  PLEASE look at the SARC/SAPRO program. It DOES nothing but waste money. They have NO power over the military, and the DOD is using it as smoke and mirrors to "show the public" that they are doing something.
  When will SARC/SAPRO and the DOD actually include men and women survivors who have experienced MST during service, as part of the solution? When will they call on us? Those who have spent years with the victims, giving Real Help, Real Solutions? There are many out in the community volunteering to "clean up the mess the military and congress has ignored for decades. My 4,000 cases go back to WWII, and Nothing has changed since then. Nothing. I wish I had the time to educate the general public, but there is an Epidemic of Military Sexual Trauma going on, and I personally do not have the time to do both.

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  Susan commented on the article | about 2 years ago

  Raise Your Voice Against Military Rape

  This document was created to "help" law enforcement decide whether a rape allegation is credible. Very telling.
  
  McDowell’s foundation work is used in the military and in civilian police departments, as McDowell himself testified in 1985 US Congressional Hearing on the rape of children, that children and military women are comparable in their honesty, they lie about being raped! According to McDowell’s testimony; of 1,218 cases studied, 460 were forcible rapes; 212 false allegations using this checklist, 546 could not be determined as rape or not, yet, McDowell put the 546 undetermined cases into the false allegation category or not raped. He “analysed rape investigations between 1970 – 1984, approx 341 of those cases were false reports.” Thus making McDowell’s stats of 60% of military women lie. But, McDowell’s false reports went from 212, to 341, and or plus 546? Hard to know how McDowell was counting.
  
  Here's the Checklist:
  
  
  RAPE ALLEGATION CHECKLIST
  Created by the US Pentagon and
  Charles P. McDowell, Ph.D. USAF, OSI
  
  
  Initial Complaint
  Points
  1 Was the complaint timely? Y N N=0.5
  2 Was the initial complaint made by the victim to a friend? Y N Y=0.5
  3 Were law enforcement authorities notified by someone other than the victim? Y N Y=3.0
  
  Nature of the Allegation
  
  4 Does victim report being abducted? Y N Y=0.5
  5 Does victim report being intoxicated at the time of the assault? Y N Y=3.0
  6 Does victim’s recollection of the details of the assault seem overly broad? Y N Y=0.5
  7 Does victim report offering vigorous resistance to her assailant? Y N Y=3.0
  8 Is victim able to identify or locate the scene of the assault? Y N N=3.0
  9 Does victim report passing out or losing consciousness during the assault? Y N Y=0.5
  10 Does victim report waking up (or coming to) and finding her assailant engaging in intercourse with her? Y N Y=0.5
  11 Does victim have difficulty in describing the sexual details of the assault? Y N Y=0.5
  12 Does victim report anal sex (sodomy)? Y N N=1.0
  13 Does victim report forced oral sex (fellatio)? Y N N=0.5
  14 Does victim’s story contain any significant changes in subsequent retelling? Y N Y=2.0
  15 Does victim describe the assault in flat, unemotional tones? Y N Y=0.5
  16 Does victim describe the assault with a sense of relish or enthusiasm? Y N Y=0.5
  17 Does victim report being assaulted at gunpoint? Y N Y=3.0

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  Susan commented on the article | about 2 years ago

  Raise Your Voice Against Military Rape

  
  
  Suspect Description
  
  18 Does victim report being assaulted by multiple assailants? Y N Y=0.5
  19 Does victim report her assailant(s) as being of a different race or ethnic group? Y N Y=0.5
  20 Does victim report keeping her eyes closed during the assault (and therefore not able to identify her assailant)? Y N Y=0.5
  21 Does victim describe her assailant as having an unsavory appearance? Y N Y=0.5
  22 Does victim report her assailant wore a mask? Y N Y=0.5
  23 Does victim report her assailant wore gloves? Y N Y=0.5
  24 Does victim describe her assailant as a person she knows or who is familiar to her but can’t provide a good physical description? Y N Y=3.0

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  Susan commented on the article | about 2 years ago

  Raise Your Voice Against Military Rape

  
  Physical and Medical Evidence
  
  25 Is the crime scene consistent with the story? Y N N=3.0
  26 Does victim display any minor sharp weapon injuries (lacerations)? Y N Y=3.0
  27 Is the condition of victim’s clothing consistent with her story? Y N N=3.0
  28 Does victim present bruises from the assault which are inconsistent in color (age) with the time of the assault? Y N Y=0.5
  29 Does victim display any cross-hatching scratches to the face? Y N Y=5.0
  30 Does victim display shallow scratches to the face, neck, breasts, thighs or stomach? Y N Y=5.0
  31 If scratches are present on the face or breasts, do they cross the eyes, lips or nipples? Y N N=3.0
  32 Do any lacerations include hesitation wounds? Y N Y=5.0
  33 Does victim display any writing on her body allegedly done by the assailant? Y N Y=5.0
  
  
  Victim’s attitude
  
  34 Does victim seem ambivalent toward her injuries? Y N Y=0.5
  35 Does victim appear to feign emotions when relating details of the assault? Y N Y=0.5
  36 Is victim reluctant to cooperate with law enforcement authorities? Y N Y=0.5
  37 When telling about the assault, does victim have difficulty explaining anomalies or inconsistencies? Y N Y=0.5
  38 Does victim demand to be treated by a female physician or interviewed by a female police officer? Y N Y=1.0
  39 Does victim express a desire to “drop” the whole matter or otherwise indicate she does not want it investigated? Y N Y=1.0
  40 Does victim become outraged when asked to corroborate her assault? Y N Y=1.0
  41 Does victim try to steer the interview into “safe” topics or those that will engender sympathy? Y N Y=0.5
  
  Assailant’s Communications
  
  42 Does victim report receiving obscene phone calls prior to the assault? Y N Y=1.0
  43 Does victim report receiving phone calls from the assailant after the assault? Y N Y=1.0
  44 Does victim report receiving any kind of written communication from her assailant before, during, or after the assault? Y N Y=1.0
  45 If victim has received a written communication, was it a “cut and paste” note? Y N Y=3.0
  46 If victim has received written communication, does it contain any kind of rhyming scheme or take the form of poetry? Y N Y=3.0
  47 Does victim report being watched (surveilled) by her assailant prior to the assault? Y N Y=0.5
  48 Does the victim report being complimented by her assailant during the assault? Y N Y=0.5

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  Susan commented on the article | about 2 years ago

  Raise Your Voice Against Military Rape

  Personality and Lifestyle Issues
  
  49 Does victim report engaging in high risk behavior prior to her assault? Y N Y=2.0
  50 Does victim have a history of alcohol abuse? Y N Y=3.0
  51 Does victim have a history of financial problems? Y N Y=1.0
  52 Does victim have a history of mental or emotional problems? Y N Y=3.0
  53 Does victim have a significant medical history? Y N Y=2.0
  54 Does victim report prior rapes or assaults? Y N Y=2.0
  55 Does victim have a history of work-related problems? Y N Y=2.0
  56 Does victim have problems in her interpersonal relationships (i.e., with her husband, boyfriend, or others)? Y N Y=3.0
  57 Does the allegation solve a problem for the victim? Y N Y=5.0
  
  McDowell’s first premise 60% of women are lying about being raped, despite the FBI’s national stats of 8% are false allegations.
  
  * According to McDowell’s checklist the victim must score below a ZERO to be considered telling the truth about being raped.
  
  SCORING SCALE:
  0 - 15: EQUIVOCAL
  16 - 35: ALLEGATION PROBABLY FALSE
  36 - 75: FALSE ALLEGATION
  76 + UP: OVERKILL

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  Susan signed the petition | about 2 years ago

  Urge the DoD to Ensure Privacy for Civilian Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault