Women in Combat
Posted by admin in 
By Anu Bhagwati
Anu is a former Marine Corps Captain and SWAN’s first Executive Director.
Dear Friends of SWAN,
Yesterday, SWAN was honored to participate in a historic Congressional panel as part of a series of presentations hosted by the Congressional Caucus on Women in the Military. Launched by Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), the newly-formed Caucus has devoted its attention to two issues of highest priority to SWAN: revoking the Combat Exclusion Policy, and ending Military Sexual Violence.
Military Sex Offender Registries, or the Lack Thereof
By Brittany Stalsburg
Brittany Stalsburg is a political science PhD candidate and Policy Associate for SWAN. Her academic work focuses on parenthood, gender, and political candidacy.
This week marks the 5th anniversary of former President Bush’s signing of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, which set strict and comprehensive national standards for states’ maintenance of sex offender registries. With looming deadlines to prove states have met the requirements, Emanuella Grinberg reports on CNN.com that only 14 states, 9 tribes, and the territory of Guam have “substantially implemented” the act’s requirements.
House hears testimony on VA rape bill
Click on the image to read SWAN’s Statement for the Record.
The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health is holding a hearing at 4pm today examining several pieces of legislation and hearing testimony from the Veterans Adminstration (VA) and several veterans organizations on the impact these bills would have. One of the bills being discussed is H.R. 2074, a bipartisan bill that would require the VA to develop and implement a comprehensive policy on reporting and tracking sexual assaults at VA medical facilities.
SWAN has submitted a statement for the record on this bill, advocating strongly for its passage. Last month the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a scathing report on sexual assaults within VA facilities, and in particular was critical of the VA for not having a codified, coherent and well-communicated policy on sexual assault reporting. Since the report was published, SWAN has pushed the story heavily in the media, we have been inundated with calls from veterans who experienced all types of abuses while at the VA, and from VA employees who have witnessed sexual assaults, to include members of the VA’s own police force who have apprehended perpetrators only to see them return to work without so much as a reprimand.
Using Diagnosis as a Weapon
By Anu Bhagwati
Anu is a former Marine Corps Captain and SWAN’s first Executive Director.
Dear Friends of SWAN,
Our efforts to hold military leadership accountable for rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment in the ranks are making significant headway both in terms of litigation and legislative reform. However, bias against victims and a desire to sweep incidents under the rug remain a continued threat to victims and an obstacle to institutional progress.
I want to talk to you today about the issue of Personality Disorders. In recent weeks, SWAN has been hearing from increasing numbers of active duty women and men whose careers have ended after reporting their rapes and assaults. In these cases, servicemembers have been sexually assaulted, and then almost immediately after reporting their attacks, have been diagnosed by military medical providers with a “Personality Disorder.” read more
“Crying Wolf” and Calling Foul
Public Citizen/Flickr
By Emily Dake
Emily Dake is a graduate of Vassar College and executive assistant at SWAN. In her spare time, she enjoys theater, music and Gothic literature.
Jamie Leigh Jones, the former Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR) employee who claimed she was gang raped and locked in a shipping container for 24 hours after reporting her assault, has lost her long, onerous case against the contracting giant. This news comes on the heels of reports that the sexual assault case against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is unraveling. These two high-profile blows have made survivors of sexual assault and advocates understandably disheartened. Besides the loss or dismantling of the cases themselves, the plaintiffs have been dragged through the mud, blamed for their own assault, and painted as conniving, lying troublemakers. Many news outlets have published detailed accounts of what prosecutors, defendants and the public think these accusers did “wrong,” even going so far as to accuse them of “crying wolf” even before their cases went to court.
Benefit Cuts Never Heal
by Greg Jacob
Greg is the policy director at SWAN and a former Marine Corps infantry officer.
Senator Tom Coburn has introduced an amendment to the Military Construction bill which would undo decades of policies regarding how this country takes care of veterans that have been exposed to Agent Orange, and could have a negative impact on future claims filed with the Veterans Administration (VA). It would also undercut much of the work SWAN has done on VA claims reform for cases of Military Sexual Trauma. Coburn’s amendment was introduced on the floor this week and could come up for a vote as soon as today.
Veterans who served in Vietnam or who were exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War are presumptively service-connected for several illnesses known to be caused by Agent Orange exposure. What this Agent Orange presumption means in practical terms is that veterans who served during the Vietnam War and are diagnosed with certain illnesses don’t have to prove an association between their disease and their military service. This speeds up the process of getting veterans much needed benefits by automatically finding the veteran’s claim to be service connected for these conditions. It is known that well over 100,000 veterans were exposed to defoliants and herbicides while serving in Vietnam and other areas, and that number will only increase with the recent inclusion of Navy sailors who served on vessels in adjacent areas.
Mental Hygiene
by Marti D. Ribeiro
Marti is an Air Force combat veteran who serves as a SWAN advisor. She loves to travel and spend time with her kids. She also loves to play soccer whenever she can!
I sat in the waiting area of the mental health department of my local VA hospital, waiting for my appointment with my counselor. I’m a regular there, so this wasn’t anything new. What was new, however, was the sign outside of the group therapy room. Normally it says “Group Therapy” on the outside of the door – pretty self explanatory. But today there was a new sign that said “Mental Hygiene.”
Mental Hygiene.
What exactly does that mean?
My first thoughts drifted to the Discovery Channel’s one-hour special on lobotomies. You know those procedures they did decades ago where they would cram a metal rod in your brain and wiggle it around, hoping to make you sane? Or those toothbrush commercials where the cartoon guy could flip open his head, like it was on a hinge, to clean all of his teeth properly.
Inward Bound
By Rebekah Havrilla
Rebekah is an Army veteran and serves as SWAN’s National Peer Support Helpline Caseworker. She loves the ocean and finds being near the water extremely comforting. She is also a huge lover of dogs.
Last fall, I had the opportunity to attend an Outward Bound veterans trip due to the grant by the Sierra Club allowing veterans to attend OB courses at little or no cost. I chose to attend the sailing trip off the coast of Maine because I LOVE the water, grew up near the beach, I dive, am a complete beach bum at heart, and was devastated when the Army stationed me in Ft. Riley, KS, miles and miles from any ocean (while my sister and brother-in-law got stationed in Hawaii). I had never been to Maine, had never been sailing, and thought that this trip would be a really cool experience for me. OB also touts the trip as mentally, emotionally, and physically challenging and I was definitely looking for a little stimulation. My unemployment was wearing on me mentally, not to mention financially, and I was needing some serious perspective adjustments.
Repairing VA’s Broken Claims System
Dear Friends of SWAN,
I’m heading to DC today with our dedicated National Peer Support Helpline caseworker, Rebekah Havrilla, to meet with policymakers and senior members of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) about the issue of Military Sexual Trauma claims reform. I am especially looking forward to meeting with Representative Chellie Pingree, whose landmark bill, H.R. 930, will revise an unfair claims policy that currently discriminates against Military Sexual Trauma survivors. It is critical that this legislation get approved.
Last year, SWAN and the ACLU sued the VA and the Department of Defense for documentation related to military rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment and domestic violence. While not all documentation has come in, and we have yet to release our full findings, our initial reports suggest that the Veterans Benefits Administration has a strong bias against veterans whose claims are associated with “Military Sexual Trauma,” a euphemism for the psychological trauma associated with military rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. read more
Let My Story Be Told!
My name is Terri J. Odom, and recently I had one of the greatest honors of my entire life. On July 12th, 2011 Congresswoman Jackie Speier told the horrible story of my rape and the lack of justice that followed on the floor of the House of Representatives. I was a special guest of the Congresswoman. I was seated in the gallery of the chambers with her staff. When I heard her tell my condensed story (as she only had five minutes to speak), I teared up with pride. When she said, “That tragic day the military lost a great soldier and kept a rapist,” I thought I would be taken by the fear of my rapist hearing the story. But I wasn’t! I actually was hoping that he heard her! LOUD AND CLEAR! I was not ashamed, I only pray that my story may touch even one brave soul and perhaps change their life or even save their life.
Kicking and Screaming Part 2
As a follow up to my recent post on a proposed consent based rape law for the military, members of the House Armed Services Committee received a brief yesterday on proposed Department of Defense (DOD) revisions to the military’s rape law known as Article 120. During the brief, Congresswoman Niki Tsongas and Congresswoman Chellie Pingree both made a strong case for the DOD to adopt a consent based statute as part of the new revision. By the end of the briefing the DOD agreed to take another, much closer look at a consent based Article 120.
The political cynic in me immediately says not to get too optimistic about major changes, but the Congresswomen did a fantastic job of convincing a number of people in the room that a consent based definition made more sense. On a bipartisan basis, Members expressed confusion with the current Article 120 and confusion with the DOD’s suggested changes.
Proud to be a Soldier . . . Finally
Photo via www.herloveglows.com
By Rebekah Havrilla
Rebekah is an Army veteran and serves as SWAN’s National Peer Support Helpline Caseworker. She loves the ocean and finds being near the water extremely comforting. She is also a huge lover of dogs.
A couple of weeks ago, I attended a symposium hosted by the New York State Health Foundation that was focused on how communities can better mobilize to meet the needs of returning veterans. I considered this to be a great opportunity to network and learn about some of the systems in place here in New York that I may be able to tap into in the future. The opening and keynote addresses were given by Colonel David Sutherland. Colonel Sutherland is the Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff – Warrior and Family Support division, a really long title that basically means he’s in charge of helping find ways to ease the transition back to civilian and garrison life for soldiers and their families. Since I left the Army and even while I was on active duty, I was never much impressed by the majority of speeches that I’ve heard given by the upper brass, and I expected this speech to be no exception.
When Mental Health Counseling Jeopardizes Your Career
Dear Friends of SWAN,
Thanks to your support, we’ve made tremendous strides this year in getting a variety of legislation introduced to curb military sexual violence and discrimination against service women. As we push for national support for these bills, a few critical issues remain.
Some of you have intimate knowledge about Question 21 on The National Security Clearance Questionnaire, form SF 86. In fact, SWAN has received a handful of Helpline calls from troops who are sexual assault survivors, and who have been further harmed by this misguided and potentially damaging question.
“Infamous Question 21,” as former Defense Secretary Robert Gates dubbed it, requires applicants to provide the dates and reason for mental health counseling. It grants government investigators full access to an individual’s medical records. It also opens up the possibility that investigators will ask follow up questions about rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment or domestic violence committed against an applicant, and it threatens denial of a clearance if an applicant is not completely forthcoming. read more
Cupcakes and Ice Cream
Every year on my birthday, I eat cupcakes and ice cream for breakfast. This tradition is unbroken solely because of my mother’s tenacity and her ability to Facebook-stalk my roommates and friends. This is my first birthday in the city and I’ve been here less than two months and quite honestly I was expecting tradition to be broken. I’m 29 today and I figure at some point this tradition will end…but not yet.
Four hours after discovering cupcakes on my counter and ice cream in the freezer, I don’t know why I ever doubted my mother. This is the mother that found a way for me to have cupcakes and ice cream on my 25th birthday while I was in Afghanistan! read more
The War at Home
by Brianna White
After my uncle's first deployment, he was a different person. His temper was short, and he berated my aunt about the changes she made in his absence. He wanted her to stop working and stay at home. When I came to visit, we weren't allowed in the house if he was there. All of his actions were a part of his attempt to regain control. My aunt never called the on-base military police for help during domestic disturbances. If he was arrested and convicted, my uncle would be dishonorably discharged.
When soldiers return from war, they usually receive a well-deserved homecoming. Spouses and children are overjoyed to see the person they love return. But often, these soldiers have changed. And they take out their hurt and anger on the families they left behind. read more