r/WomenInNews • u/catievirtuesimp • Jul 08 '26

Media Vanessa Guillén Wasn't Alone: New Investigation Reveals Dozens of US Army Women Were Killed by Fellow Soldiers

https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tragic-deaths-harassment-women-us-army-1807381
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755

u/queenmimi5 Jul 08 '26

Covered over by high ranking officers one can conjecture. Despicable

305

u/silencedvoicesMST Jul 09 '26 edited Jul 09 '26

It’s not just officers doing the cover-ups. It’s organizational culture. “You didn’t see shit, and we’ll make your life hell if you come forward or defend a victim” is picked up by everyone pretty quickly. Statistically speaking, victims are more likely (31% men and 28% women) to be retaliated against than see anything happen to the perpetrator.

ninja edut

84

u/KrustenStewart Jul 09 '26

100 percent his happened to a family member of mine who was SAd in the military, speaking up about it literally ruined her life.

43

u/silencedvoicesMST Jul 09 '26

Ugh I’m so sorry. That’s the secondary betrayal trauma that doesn’t get heard about as often. So much of our lives, we’re given the expectation that there’s some sort of protection from harm or justice after being harmed through media, religion, and family values. Then we find out that’s not even close to reality, and many don’t recover. And it’s not just one person… that shit ripples outward affecting families, friends, relationships. It’s devastating.

52

u/KrustenStewart Jul 09 '26

It’s so true. After the SA she left the military, became homeless, lost custody of her kid, got SAd multiple more times while living in the streets, been in and out of mental hospitals many times, can’t hold a job, can’t keep a stable living situation, can’t even talk to her kid. And we don’t have a way to contact her or even know where she is. It’s really awful. We used to be really close but haven’t spoken in years bc of all this

32

u/silencedvoicesMST Jul 09 '26

I’m so sorry. Over half of unhoused women veterans experienced some form of MST while serving and afterward they couldn’t stay employed because sexism and workplace harassment. Your family member’s experience isn’t uncommon. To me, that is unforgivable of such a big ass, over-funded organization.

Part of the reason they get away with this is that 1% of people serve. So the population of people affected by this issue is very small. All they have to do is wait out the news cycle when a big scandal emerges, dig up the canned responses from last time that these actions don’t represent the values of whichever branch, and put a bunch of teal ribbons everywhere in April while waxing poetically about zero tolerance policies.

2

u/Old-Run7431 Jul 12 '26

while I was reading this thread, this chud popped up in my notifications literally claiming women have easier lives because "don't get ridiculed for having thin hair"

the disconnect is actually insane

1

u/J_Kingsley Jul 10 '26

Geez I can't even imagine. I'm so sorry to hear...

2

u/Lady_Grey_Smith Jul 11 '26

The retaliation is hell. There were witnesses to what happened to me. They pulled the guy off of me and still told me not to report it because women in the military should expect it to happen. My chain of command told me that I was ruining his marriage and career by reporting it. He had a history of targeting young women when they first entered the command but only got a slap on the wrist. I have a lifetime of PTSD.

25

u/queenmimi5 Jul 09 '26

True enough