[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9300-9301]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           STOP MILITARY RAPE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to once again draw our 
attention to the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military.
  But, first, I want to mention the disturbing Government 
Accountability Office report released last week which showed that 
patients and staff have been raped and sexually assaulted in the VA. 
There were 284 reports of sexual assault which occurred between January 
2007 and July 2010. There were 67 classified as rape, 185 as 
inappropriate touching, 13 as forced oral sex, eight as forceful 
medical examinations, and 11 as ``other.''
  While this is not as widespread as rape and sexual assault in the 
military, it is yet another example where government has lacked in 
protecting the men and women in uniform who serve our Nation. One 
assault is one too many. VA facilities should be a place for aid and 
comfort, not for abuse.
  The House Veterans Affairs' Committee held a hearing on this issue 
just Monday. Congress must make it a priority to hold the VA 
accountable and ensure that this does not happen again. As I said 
during my last speech on this issue, I have set up an email account so 
survivors of rape and sexual assault in the military can tell their 
stories. The address is: stopmilitaryrape@
mail.house.gov.
  Today, I want to share the story of Private Jessica Kenyon. Mr. 
Speaker, I must warn my colleagues that some of the language is raw. 
Private Kenyon served in the Army from August 2005 until August 2006. 
Her allegation is as follows:
  During training at Fort Eustis, Private Kenyon's teaching sergeant 
began to harass her. He constantly touched her, and made sexual jokes 
and comments to her. She did not believe it would be effective to 
report the teaching sergeant, because her unit commander was openly 
misogynistic. He was known to say, ``This unit never had any problems 
until females came into it.''
  In December 2005, while Private Kenyon was home for the holidays, she 
was raped by a member of the Army National Guard. At that point, she 
reported both the sexual harassment by the drill instructor and the 
rape to an Army sexual assault response coordinator. The Army official 
advised her to put the rape ``on the back burner'' and focus on the 
sexual harassment. Private Kenyon then discussed the rape

[[Page 9301]]

with Command, who advised that it would be used against her in 
promotional reviews if she chose to pursue prosecution.
  After she reported the harassment and rape, she was ostracized and 
retaliated against by her fellow soldiers. This retaliation followed 
her to her next assignment at Camp Humphreys in Korea. When she 
arrived, the sergeant advised that he had received calls warning him 
about her. He then made a unit-wide announcement, cautioning everyone 
that they ``should be careful who you talk to because they might report 
you.'' The sergeant and others engaged in the ongoing sexual harassment 
of Private Kenyon.
  In the spring of 2006, one soldier--a specialist and squad leader--
sexually assaulted Private Kenyon. He put his hand under her shirt and 
on her breasts, and tried to make her touch his penis. She fought him 
off.
  Private Kenyon reported the assault to Command. The assailant denied 
the sexual assault, and failed a lie detector test as a result. He then 
recanted his testimony and admitted to the harassment. He was charged 
with ``lying on a sworn statement,'' and was given only a nonjudicial 
punishment. He was demoted two ranks, but remained on active duty. The 
assailant got to keep his job. Private Kenyon got Post-Traumatic Stress 
Disorder.
  For 16 years, Congress has been talking about this issue, and there 
have been 18 hearings and reports. Yet the Department of Defense still 
testifies that there are 19,000 rapes that occur in the military every 
year, and we have done nothing about it.
  I urge survivors to tell their stories by writing to 
stopmilitaryrape@
mail.house.gov.

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