Stop Military Rape

Floor Speech

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Speier) for 5 minutes.

Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise again to highlight the epidemic of sexual assault and rape in the military.

Next week will mark the 1-year anniversary of my first floor speech on this issue. That day, I told the story of Technical Sergeant Mary Gallagher, who was raped by a coworker while deployed in Iraq. The week leading up to the rape, Sergeant Gallagher's assailant harassed her, stalked her, and attempted to break into her room.

Though she twice reported the assailant's threatening behavior, her command did nothing about it. They called it a ``he said-she said'' scenario. Justice was not served.

I've told the story of Army Specialist Blake Stephens, who was consistently assaulted and sexually harassed by the men in his unit. He reported the harassment to command, but no action was taken. Fellow servicemembers later sodomized him with a bottle; and the only punishment his assailants received was extra pushups. Justice was not served.

Last week, I told the story of Marine Lieutenant Elle Helmer, who reported repeated sexual harassment by superiors, to no avail. The Marine Corps did absolutely nothing in response to the harassment. Lieutenant Helmer was later raped by another superior whose behavior went unpunished.

Her command ultimately told her, You're tough. You need to pick yourself up and dust yourself off. I can't babysit you all of the time. No justice was served.

Mary, Blake and Elle, like so many victims I've heard from, paint a picture of a military culture that treats sexual harassment and assault with silent acceptance, a culture that punishes victims for reporting the crimes committed against them.

The military refutes this; yet evidence suggests just the reverse. The ``Hurt Feelings Report'' that stands beside me is a repugnant example of how rape and sexual assault has been trivialized, and how a victim was mocked in the military.

It was supposed to be satire. The ``report'' was posted on the Facebook page of a female captain in charge of the Marine Barracks Protocol Office just a few months ago. It mocks fellow marines who file sexual assault complaints with a list of ``Reasons for filing this report,'' which include options such as:

``I'm a little b--------.''

``I'm a little p--------.''

``I'm a cry baby.''

And ``I want my mommy.''

And what did the head of protocol do when she saw this document? Did she report or punish the people who made it? Did she tell them there is zero tolerance for this behavior?

No, she didn't do anything of the sort. In fact, the head of protocol wrote this caption to the image on her Facebook page: ``My marines crack me up.''

It's no wonder that only 13 percent of victims of rape and assault are brave enough to report the crimes committed against them. The ``Hurt Feelings Report'' and the Facebook response convey a toxic culture when it comes to sexual harassment, assault, stalking and rape. Victims have been told to ``get over it,'' or told that they were ``asking for it'' based on the way they dress.

One year ago, I promised to tell the stories of servicemembers who survived rape and sexual assault while in the military. I said then, and I promise you now, that I will tell their stories until meaningful action is taken to eliminate the chasm between the number of estimated sexual assaults and the number of prosecuted sexual assaults.

I urge survivors to email me at stopmilitaryrape@mail.house.gov if they want to speak up.

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