INTERNATIONAL STOP MILITARY RAPE AWARENESS DAY

May 30 - INTERNATIONAL STOP MILITARY RAPE AWARENESS DAY
One of the saddest realities I faced when my daughter joined the U.S. Army was that sexual abuse is an epidemic in our military. Both of my grandfather's were in the military, one being a Colonel and the other was a Sergeant, and both were good men. I heard the statistics, but thought I had raised a tough daughter, she could deal with anything they threw at her. I had no idea how many perpetrators and sex offenders lurk and hide in our military. I did not realize was that one out of every three women and one out of every five men in the U.S. Military are sexually assaulted. I still feel shocked by these numbers. And even worse is that it is rare that the perpetrator is prosecuted for the crime of rape/sexual assault.

There are some fundamental changes that need to change so that people can serve in our armed forces without fear of being sexually assaulted by their own fellow soldiers. One is hold the command responsible for any type of complaints that are generated. This means independent investigations into any type of complaint is absolutely crucial. All the policies and procedures and task forces in the world won't help iF the command is able to choose which one to enforce.

Informing young people before they sign away their rights about the statistics of rape in the military should be mandated. Informed and honest recruiting needs to be upheld and not a joke.

We must take a stand together to end the good ole' boy mentality of "boys will be boys" and demand a ZERO tolerance for sexual abuse in the military.
Peace~Sara Rich, M.S.W. and proud mom of Spc. Suzanne Swiftsuzanneswift.org

Protest planned for Spc. Suzanne Swift

Protests Planned for Army Specialist Who Went AWOL After Charging Sexual Harassment
Thursday, July 13th, 2006
‘Meet Me in Fort Lewis’ - Protests Planned for Army Specialist Who Went AWOL After Charging Sexual Harassment


Army Specialist Suzanne Swift remains confined to base. She went AWOL when the military did not address her charges of sexual harassment and abuse. We take a look at sexual harassment in the military. [includes rush transcript]

We take a look at the case of Suzanne Swift. She is the Army Specialist who has been arrested and confined to base for going AWOL after her charges of sexual harassment and assault went un-addressed by the military.
Swift served in Iraq for a year but decided she could not return and went AWOL. She said her superiors repeatedly sexually harassed her while serving in Iraq. On June 11th, the Eugene police knocked on her mother’s front door and Suzanne was arrested and taken to the county jail. She has since been transferred to Fort Lewis Washington where she is confined to her base. So far, no charges have been filed against her and Fort Lewis officials have said they will assign an independent investigator to look into her charges of sexual harassment.
Suzanne Swift turns twenty-two on Saturday. Her family and supporters are urging a national day of action on her behalf. A “Meet Me in Fort Lewis” rally and vigil are planned for noon outside Fort Lewis. Another in her hometown of Eugene, is planned for noon at the Federal Building.
A few days ago, we brought you Suzanne Swift’s mother, Sara Rich. Today we bring you Suzanne Swift’s grandfather, Jim Rich. I spoke with him at the Oregon Country Fair near Eugene.
Jim Rich, Suzanne Swift’s grandfather.
For more on the issue of sexual harassment in the military we are joined by:
Susan Avila-Smith, a Military Sexual Trauma Specialist and founder and director of Women Organizing Women, an advocacy group for survivors of rape in the military.
More information at SuzanneSwift.org. Email Suzanne Swift’s mother, Sara Rich, at formydaughtersuzanne@yahoo.com
We invited a representative from Fort Lewis military base to be on our program but they declined our request.
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