Sexual assault in the military is very prevalent, yet reporting is SILENCED. Even though most branches have Sexual Assault and Harassment Coordinators, reports are not followed up on and the perpetrators often do not receive consequences due to the current culture of the military.

While the whole culture of sexual assault and the military needs to change, I propose the change starts by bases contracting with an outside organization to handle sexual assault and harassment cases in order to avoid upper management turning a blind eye to reports of harassment and assault. Having an additional party from a local sexual assault agency could increase the ability to safely report as well as additional support in advocating for persecution of perpetrators. In addition, all bases would establish a No Tolerance policy at the first report of harassment, which would include discharging the offender. There should be no room for any type of sexual offenders in our national defense.

As we saw with Vanessa Guillen's case, her prior complaints of harassment were not taken serious, and it resulted in her cruel murder. Her case has inspired the thousands of other young service members to share their stories of abuse that were dismissed. These cases need to be taken serious upon the first complaint before even more of our selfless service members are killed. Currently, military leaders would rather silence victims than punish the offenders and that needs to end today.

Please join me in bringing solutions to the US Department of Defense to incorporate national "No Tolerance Policies" that are upheld by collaborative efforts to end sexual assault in the military!