Many of you have now seen the story of Elsie Dominguez.
Elsie is a civilian engineer with Military Sealift Command and a Navy Reserve lieutenant commander. In 2021, while assigned to a Navy transport ship, she says the captain used a master key to enter her private stateroom and rape her while she was unconscious.
She reported it. She sued. After years of fighting, a federal court dismissed her case this month. The Department of Labor ruled the assault occurred “in the performance of her job duties,” so her only path is a workers’ compensation claim.
That is the official position: being raped in her own bed was part of the job.
This is why H.R. 7976 exists. Survivors of military sexual trauma and moral injury keep getting the same message from the system — delay, minimize, reclassify, and close the door. Recognition and retroactive support are not extras. They are the least the country owes people who were failed while serving it.
If this still shocks you, share the petition. If you’ve already signed, send it to one more person and ask your representatives whether they will support H.R. 7976.