Military Times: Miss Kansas: ‘Raise hell’ about sexual harassment
Theresa Vail, who finished as a top candidate in the Miss America 2014 pageant experienced sexual harassment firsthand while serving in the Kansas National Guard, and is now speaking out. The Military Times reports :
In 2009, she was 19 and the lone female mechanic in a motor pool near Kansas City, where she suffered verbal sexual harassment and “inappropriate comments.”
Her advice to female soldiers in similar situations: “Raise hell about it,” said Vail, now 22. “You need to stand up for yourself because nobody’s going to do it for you. I knew even at 19 that this was unacceptable.”
Vail at first went to her commander, who sided with her co-workers, she said, “because I was the new girl.” Then she went over her commander’s head and was allowed to transfer out of the the unit.
