Marine: Military sex abuse has deep roots

When Maureen Gard goes running, the flashbacks come: riding in the platoon leader's car, the jokes about her bra size, the fondling and the pinning her down.

She was an 18-year-old Marine at the time and considered her platoon leader a friend when she went for a ride with him to a mall near their base in Virginia. They were classmates training to become Marine musicians.

He drove fast, her cellphone fell between her legs and he reached down to get it, she said. He fondled her knees, legs and stomach, drove to a wooded area behind an abandoned building, and climbed on top of her and pinned her down. He kissed her and kept asking if she liked the encounter. She resisted his advances and was able to get out of the car, she said.

Now 25, Gard is a Meriden resident and a student at Quinnipiac University. Shaped by her experiences, she works hard to raise awareness about military sexual assault. She gives speeches, writes a blog and runs road races to raise money for victims and to dispense her own "therapy."

The U.S. Department of Defense estimates that 26,000 military sexual assaults among women and men occurred in 2012 -- 7,000 more than in 2011.

Only 3,374 victims reported military sexual assaults, the DOD said, with 62 percent of those saying they were retaliated against professionally and socially. Of those who didn't report military sexual assaults, 47 percent told the DOD that they feared reprisals.

In Gard's case, she pressed charges against her platoon leader. During the military's investigation, he left the music program, was given another assignment on base and the two still lived in the same complex.

Gard graduated from the music program and was sent to San Diego as the investigation continued. Months later, other female Marines came forward and reported him for sexual offenses. He was dismissed from the U.S. Marine Corps, but didn't receive a dishonorable discharge.

"Nothing appears in his record," Gard said. "He's off scot free."

Advocates say the time is ripe for new laws and policies designed to help victims, prevent assaults, ensure that offenders are punished and increase reporting. But advocates also concede it will be difficult to change the military culture surrounding the treatment of women.

Gard said the culture "plays a lot into this whole issue."

She talked about male Marines using the abbreviation WM, which normally refers to a Woman Marine. But in this case, WM means "Walking Mattress," implying that a woman receives a promotion by having sex with superiors.

"I don't think there's going to be a quick change in the military," Gard said.

One bill in Congress would remove control of military sexual assault cases from the pertinent chain of command.

U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, a New Haven Democrat, is one of 83 co-sponsors. DeLauro said the bill would establish "reforms I fear the military cannot make on its own."

It should have been done "years ago," she added.

The bill would establish an office of civilian and military legal experts to investigate cases, create a reporting method, provide safety to victims and keep a database from which convictions would be sent to the National Sex Offender Registry.

A report in April based on a 2011 Pentagon health survey found that more than one out of five female respondents said they experienced unwanted sexual contact by another service member, and nearly a third of military women with gender-related stress were sexually assaulted while in the military.

At the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, many cadets are afraid they will be retaliated against if they report sexual offenses, said Panayiota Bertzikis, executive director of the Military Rape Crisis Center.

The center runs confidential support groups for cadets who have been sexually assaulted. Bertzikis said about 40 women and 10 men attend the groups. The women were assaulted by cadets while most of the men experienced sexual trauma before enrolling at the academy.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Frederick J. Kenney, testifying recently before a Senate subcommittee, said that the academy has "quite a robust training plan in place for the cadets" on the issue, including a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator and a student group trained to confidentially "accompany a victim to a Victim Advocate."

Academy Superintendent, Rear Adm. Sandra L. Stosz, declined an interview.

Advocates note that men are also victims of sexual assaults. A May Pentagon report shows more men assaulted than women, but a much smaller percentage based on their populations. Some 12,100 women were assaulted out of a total female military population of 200,000, while 13,900 males were assaulted out of 1.2 million military men.

For Gard, the running helps her. It's "a therapeutic way to be by myself and have my own thoughts."

She still has the anxiety and panic attacks, so she carries a knife and pepper spray when she runs.

Gard is training for the Marine Corps Marathon in October. Her run, she said, will be "a celebration of overcoming my sexual assault.''

This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (www.c-hit.org).

Source: http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Marine-Military-sex-abuse-has-deep-roots-4540575.php

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