Project (Fe)male
The death of Vanessa Guillen has sparked a movement among women in the military to share their stories of sexual harassment and assault and the efforts their colleagues and leaders took to suppress their accusations or shift the blame to them.
I was motivated to write this because of two stories shared on Twitter. Twitter user MarchingWith7 shared her experience as an ROTC cadet that detailed the sexual harassment she was subjected to and the scrutiny she was placed under after reporting a near-assault. An easier version to read can be found here — trust me, it’s worth reading.
Twitter user Sandyz_Cheezin also shared her story of sexual harassment and the insidious professional harassment that caused her to leave the Marines. Her harasser is still in the Marines.
These two stories are just two examples, though. Hundreds of women have also shared their stories online of sexual harassment and assault using the hashtag #IamVanessaGuillen.
After reading these stories, I was struck by how exhausting being a woman in the military must be. Exhausting, mentally harmful, and potentially dangerous.
This topic is hard to talk about, write about, and think about because it forces us to examine our contributions to the problem. Even if we aren’t perpetrators of sexual harassment and assault, we can do more to support our friends, subordinates, and colleagues who are victims.
Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy announced an independent review of Fort Hood that will examine the command climate that may have contributed to Spc. Guillen’s death. While this review may expand to explore the Army’s broader sexual harassment and assault climate, lower level leaders are taking steps to improve the climate immediately.
More than 20 military meme pages on Instagram came together to spread awareness for resources available for victims of sexual harassment and assault. Many of the pages that participated have thousands of followers, and the most prominent page that participated has more than 20,000 followers.
Also, Instagram user saltykilo, an Army officer, started the Iron Man Project to provide a tangible means for identifying allies of sexual harassment and assault victims.
She created a sticker — which depicts the alchemy symbol for iron — that serves as a beacon for victims.
“If you need help (regardless of your sex or orientation), if you see someone with this, they are an ally. If you need help, need to vent, or need a companion who stands behind what this symbol means, you can go to this person.”
You can buy your sticker here.
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The views expressed are those of Brennan Randel and do not reflect the official position of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or any government agency.
