Claim: Sexual assault victims punished and lose health care benefits as a result.
HRW claims in their report that many service members lose their military career after being sexually assaulted & they have discharge papers that prevent them from getting health benefits.
DoD rejected the conclusions of the HRW report.
DoD states “they have many victims of sexual assault who receive honorable discharges from the military. There is a policy in place that offers assistance for anyone that reports a sexual assault. It is critical every survivor is treated with sensitivity that they deserve.”
Media states that victim was raped multiple times while serving her country and that they contacted the DoD and Army about her case, a case from 15 years ago.
She states that she was military intelligence, had lots of prescreening prior to enlistment. Promising path, requested by Chain of Command to apply to West Point. After first rape in military, her promising path turned to being retaliated against, and there were two more rapes for reporting the rape. It ended career with an illegal, bogus, discharge. Decade and a half later, still fighting to correct it.
In Photos: The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault
Some 26,000 women [and men] are sexually assaulted in the military every year. Photojournalist Mary Calvert documented some of their stories.
“Why is this happening? To answer that question, Mary Calvert met with survivors and went to congressional hearings on military sexual assault. The women she met connected her with more women, and she photographed them in their homes and communities. Through her work, she learned that just 1 in 7 victims of sexual assault in the military reported the attack; of those assaults that were reported, just 1 in 10 ever saw a trial.”
“I get emails, and comments from people saying, ‘I was sexually assaulted in the military and I’ve never told anybody and when I saw these pictures and read these stories I felt more courage to go out and get some help.'” -World Press Photo Foundation (May 18, 2017)
When in danger, it’s natural to feel afraid. This fear triggers many split-second changes in the body to prepare to defend against the danger or to avoid it. This “fight-or-flight” response is a healthy reaction meant to protect a person from harm. But in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), this reaction is changed or damaged. People who have PTSD may feel stressed or frightened even when they’re no longer in danger.
PTSD develops after a terrifying ordeal that involved physical harm or the threat of physical harm. The person who develops PTSD may have been the one who was harmed, the harm may have happened to a loved one, or the person may have witnessed a harmful event that happened to loved ones or strangers.
PTSD was first brought to public attention in relation to war veterans, but it can result from a variety of traumatic incidents, such as mugging, rape, torture, being kidnapped or held captive, child abuse, car accidents, train wrecks, plane crashes, bombings, or natural disasters such as floods or earthquakes.
FMI from the National Institute of Mental Health, please click here.
AI Image of an evil woman lying in a court of law…
Colleen Bushnell, a self proclaimed “MST advocate” working with Protect Our Defenders (PoD), didn’t just perjure herself in a court of law but she lied in two different states about her sons being sexually molested by the ex-husband and his family (who now have custody).
She accused them ALL of sex crimes in a court of law with no evidence where ANYONE accused of crimes against children are demonized in the public sphere. Much like my husband’s abusive ex-wife, she weaponized the court system to regain control of the situation after losing physical custody. Obviously, she had no history of “reports of abuse” to use as evidence. She is the abuser.
Law enforcement conducted an extensive investigation in two separate states only to find out that she simply made it up in an effort to get her children back under false pretenses. Colleen Bushnell has a history of falsely accusing people when she is the actual problem.
For about fifteen years, she’s been pushing herself out there as a “military sexual trauma advocate” despite treating veterans like shit. She has zero credibility with Congress, the Air Force, or in any court of law, therefore a significant risk to any client’s case or a movement. I met Colleen, the “advocate,” via Protect Our Defenders in 2012 and she started abusing me because I was chosen to testify for the House Armed Services Committee hearings in 2013 during the Lackland Air Force Base basic training sex scandal.
She was jealous because she wasn’t chosen to speak in front of Congress (probably because they vetted her) and she made my life a living hell from the time she found out until I testified. She spent weeks coming at me about how all my thoughts on any matters were wrong… and that she was the authority on the subject. You don’t speak for me or tell me that I don’t have freedom of speech after serving in silence for 17 years until my medical retirement was official. She had the nerve to fake console* me afterwards to get attention in the media and then began the gang bullying campaign against me on-line when she posted a fake “cease and desist.”
(The only thing I ever said about Colleen is that I didn’t want to work with her. I have every right to pick and choose who I will and will not work with. She is not a team player, she was abusing me, and she proved who she really is when she found out I didn’t want to work with her… she ruined me with lies and defamation on social media, the exact same thing she accused me of. Thanks for the hate Jeannie.)
*I was crying because of the abuse Colleen Bushnell put me through prior to the difficult task of testifying to congress about something so personal… and the fact that Air Force generals, most members of the HASC, and the audience who supported them walked out before hearing the testimony of two Air Force leaders. It was overwhelming to be treated so poorly before the testimony, during the testimony, and after the testimony after a lifetime of abuse and dehumanization. Colleen is connected to Nancy Parrish and is still a shill for Protect Our Defenders to this day. Both of them have a history of shutting down veterans to maintain control of the narrative.
This photo opp is so fake. Both of these women tried to control the narrative the entire time and beat me down because I didn’t see things their way. I wasn’t interested in demonizing the entire military, making this a woman only issue when the majority of victims in the military are male, and felt it was important that we include all crime, not just one. What do these people not get about sexual assault victims being trapped in unsafe situations and in harm’s way. There’s a reason suicide, homicide, and missing cases are a thing and of course these clowns won’t even address it. Nancy Parrish and Colleen Bushnell had a personal agenda to pass a sexual assault only law in Jackie Speier’s name. And they snuffed out anyone who got in their way. They also stole a survivor’s bill for all military crime and perverted it back into a sexual assault only bill. Notice the SA Express-News made the photo about Nancy and Colleen.
Colleen is a proven liar and still pushes the ineffective policies of military leaders for Protect Our Defenders to this day just like she did for the Air Force as a public affairs specialist. She is a master manipulator. Protect Our Defenders and the shitty people they choose to represent the masses is why this “movement” is failing. We get accused of falsely accusing people of sex crimes and PoD promotes folks who in fact do have a history of false accusations and ruin our credibility. We’re done watching this trainwreck.
You don’t have to convince me she’s a false accuser, she falsely accused me too. She’s a bully and when she’s confronted destroys your character to silence you and creates a collective disbelief or condemnation of the victim. Then she makes herself out to be the victim, just like the military did. Colleen Bushnell and Protect Our Defenders don’t stand for the reality of the circumstances service members are forced to deal with on their own while being abused. They are engaging in the same kind of behavior and their lack of knowledge of the issues and short sighted efforts are putting us in harm’s way.
Editor’s Note:
It’s not okay for me to be an alleged domestic violence victim who got charged with a crime for the alleged abuser’s alcohol instead of helped. But it is okay for Colleen Bushnell to falsely accuse her ex-husband and his family, get busted for it, and advocate on behalf of ALL military sexual assault victims with an organization run by civilians and military officers who are fucking us.
Cynthia Feathers, Saratoga Springs, for appellant.
Mitch S. Kessler, Cohoes, attorney for the children.
Rose, J. Appeal from an order of the Family Court of Montgomery County (Cortese, J.), entered August 31, 2010, which, among other things, granted petitioner’s application, in a proceeding pursuant to Domestic Relations Law article 5-A, to enforce a prior order of custody and visitation entered in Texas.
Respondent, the mother of two sons (born in 1999 and 2002), refused to release the children to the paternal grandparents for visitation and instead brought them to New York from Texas. A Texas court thereafter issued a temporary order granting custody to the father and petitioner, the paternal grandmother. Petitioner then commenced this proceeding seeking registration and enforcement of the Texas order (see Domestic Relations Law §§ 77-d, 77-g). Respondent did not contest registration of the Texas order, but requested that Family Court exercise temporary emergency jurisdiction based on her allegations that the paternal grandparents had sexually abused the children (see Domestic Relations Law § 76-c). Family Court placed the children in the temporary custody of the Montgomery County Department of Social Services and ordered an investigation into respondent’s allegations. Upon conclusion of the investigation, Family Court found the allegations to be unfounded and granted enforcement of the Texas order.
On her appeal, respondent contends that Family Court did not conduct an adequate investigation into her allegations prior to its determination. This claim, however, is not [*2]supported by the record. Family Court heard, without objection, testimony that the children met with a local sexual abuse validator who determined that there was no sexual abuse, and it reviewed an investigative report prepared by authorities in Texas after respondent made the same allegations there. The Texas authorities conducted an exhaustive review and found no evidence to substantiate the allegations of sexual abuse. In light of the information rebutting respondent’s claims, we agree with Family Court that her unsubstantiated allegations were insufficient to warrant the invocation of temporary emergency jurisdiction (see Matter of Hearne v Hearne, 61 AD3d 758, 759 [2009]; Matter of Randall v Randall, 305 AD2d 512, 513 [2003]).
Mercure, J.P., Lahtinen, Kavanagh and McCarthy, JJ., concur. Ordered that the order is affirmed, without costs.
Sen. Claire McCaskill is on the verge of a historic victory reforming the Pentagon’s sexual assault policies.
But rather than basking in acclaim during the debate’s climatic week in the Capitol, the Missouri Democrat finds herself paying a political cost for being an outlier within her own caucus. She’s the only one of the Senate’s 16 Democratic women opposing a much more sweeping change that removes the chain of command from prosecuting sexual assault and other major military crimes.
“Dear @clairecmc Thanks 4 railroading the Military Justice Improvement Act. Is it true that you have never served a day in your life? #MJIA,” Jennifer Norris, a Maine-based Air Force veteran who works with sexual assault victims…tweeted, referring to Gillibrand’s legislative proposal by its official name. -Politico
Editor’s Note: It appears the original tweet has disappeared and it was never deleted by Jennifer Norris. Also the tweet is not on the web version of the article but is still part of the mobile version of the article.
Rep. Jackie Speier has been telling every academy recruit she meets and their parents the same thing for years — that sexual assault in the military is rampant. But not a single woman she’s talked to has ever changed her mind about joining.
“This is a $400,000 scholarship,” said Speier (D-Calif.) of the academy nominees. “On the one hand, they are weighing the savings to the family pocketbook, the extraordinary education and opportunities and then this potential risk — and I think they are expecting us to protect their daughters.”
Lawmakers vow to continue fighting to protect survivors of sexual assault
Senator Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) are demanding that the U.S. Director of National Intelligence once again eliminate a requirement that forces survivors of sexual assault in the military to declare whether they sought counseling for sexual trauma when applying for a security clearance.
Tester and Pingree successfully overturned the policy in April after hearing from veterans and service members from Montana and Maine, but the government reversed course in the final version of the security clearance questionnaire released this summer.
Before the change, job applicants seeking a security clearance had to list whether they had received mental health counseling as a result of a sexual assault, and if so, allow an investigator full access to their health records.
Veterans and veterans’ advocacy groups told Tester and Pingree the policy discouraged qualified service members from applying for important national security positions and discouraged them from getting the counseling they need. The Defense Department estimates that there may have been as many as 26,000 instances of “unwanted sexual contact” in 2012, with the vast majority of cases reported by women.
“We strongly urge you to reconsider this matter and reinstitute the explicit exemption for survivors of sexual assault,” Tester and Pingree told Intelligence Director James Clapper. “As you recognized in April, we need to do everything we can to support survivors of sexual assault – not keep them from getting the care they need or jeopardizing their ability to provide for themselves and their families.”
“Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) is grateful to Senator Tester and Congresswoman Pingree for their dedication to ensuring military sexual assault survivors’ careers are not stunted or adversely affected because they sought counseling to cope with the assault,” said Anu Bhagwati, SWAN executive director and former Marine Corps captain. “SWAN has already heard from service members that are confused by the recently removed exemption for military sexual assault survivors and are now hesitant to seek help. We urge Director Clapper to reinstate the explicit exemption for sexual assault survivors.”
Tester and Pingree have been in contact with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and other officials about the issue over the last two years. The officials responded by altering the security clearance questionnaire to better handle sensitive information, but Tester and Pingree sought a complete policy change.
There are multiple forms of counseling that do not impede an applicant from securing a security clearance, including family counseling and counseling for combat stress.
The California National Guard tried to serve termination papers to one of its members in the hospital just hours after a suicide attempt last month, the Investigative Unit has learned.
Those close to Jessica Brown, a master sergeant with Moffett Field’s 129th Rescue Wing, say they believe the move is retaliation for exposing what has been described as a toxic culture inside the Guard. Last November in front of NBC Bay Area cameras, Brown criticized her leaders for failing to properly handle a sexual assault she says happened to her while on duty in Las Vegas.
“To me, it felt like it would be better if I was dead,” Brown said in the November interview. “I didn’t want to do it, but I couldn’t handle it anymore. I wasn’t sleeping again, and when I did sleep the nightmares were so bad.” -NBC Bay Area
Washington D.C. – During a news conference today, U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with a bipartisan group of their colleagues in the Senate and House, announced new legislation that would reform the military justice system by removing the prosecution of all crimes punishable by one year or more in confinement from the chain of command, except crimes that are uniquely military in nature, such as disobeying orders or going Absent Without Leave.
Senators Collins and Gillibrand were joined by survivors of sexual assault in the military, including Jennifer Norris of Maine, and by representatives from organizations who assist victims of Military Sexual Trauma. The Military Justice Improvement Act would for the first time remove the decision whether to take a case to special or general court-martial completely out of the chain of command and give that discretion to experienced military prosecutors for all crimes punishable by one year or more in confinement, except crimes that are uniquely military in nature, such as disobeying orders or going AWOL.
“To be sure, the vast, overwhelming majority of our military personnel are honorable, conscientious, and respectful individuals, not rapists or harassers. It is for their sake that the pattern of covering up, blaming the victim, and failing to provide even the most basic protections that has been all too common for far too long must end,” said Senator Collins. “What does it say about us as a people, as the nation, as the foremost military in the world when some of our service members have more to fear from their fellow soldiers than from the enemy? This epidemic of sexual abuse cannot stand. We must ensure that justice is swift and certain to the criminals who have perpetuated these crimes.”
With tears streaming down her face, Jennifer Norris, a former Technical Sergeant in the Air Force, describes her harrowing experience with sexual assault and the difficulty she had in seeking justice within the military chain of command, saying, “The system is rigged against the victims” and in favor of the “often higher-ranking perpetrators.” [VIDEO]
Norris, who did not serve in Hawaii, said she’d been reluctant to report the rape because, “in the Air Force, I witnessed first hand what happens to those who stepped forward to report their assaults. I did not want to be stigmatized for reporting my assault — as I tried to move forward with my career. Instead, the best option for me was to try and endure it, to suck it up and try and make it until I could get transferred somewhere else — only to have it happen over and over again, like a recurring nightmare.”
She never did get justice, she said, even when she did come forward. “My perpetrators were allowed to resign in lieu of Administrative Hearings, which would have become a matter of public record. My command never offered the chance to proceed with a court martial.”
She said, “If the chain of command had been removed from handling sexual assault cases before I was attacked I believe justice would have been served or perhaps it would have been prevented in the first place.”
“At first I was too afraid to report my assault to my chain of command, but two years later I was forced to report due to the escalation of the behavior and the fear that I would be raped again.” -Jennifer Norris (Civil Beat, May 16, 2013)
Gillibrand: “I’m Distressed That The Victims’ Voices Aren’t Being Heard In This Debate
CBS News: Former Air Force Sgt. Jennifer Norris, a rape victim, said, “Blaming a civilian hook-up culture for the epidemic does nothing but contribute to victim blaming, excusing perpetrators, and it belittles the serious nature of these crimes.”
She said the system is rigged against low-ranking service members. “Commanders who are responsible for the resolution of these cases are far too often biased in favor of the often higher-ranking perpetrators,” she said.
Norris spoke at a press conference at which Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and other members of Congress pushed legislation that would allow victims to bypass their commanders.
As far as how to make that happen, the senator said, “Allow them to report directly to a military lawyer, a trained prosecutor, someone who understands sexual assault, and is the one who will do the investigation and then decide whether or not to bring it to trial.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill is on the verge of a historic victory reforming the Pentagon’s sexual assault policies.
CBS News: Former Air Force Sgt. Jennifer Norris, a rape victim, said, “Blaming a civilian hook-up culture for the epidemic does nothing but contribute to victim blaming, excusing perpetrators, and it belittles the serious nature of these crimes.”
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 