FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2012
Contact: Brian Purchia, brian@protectourdefenders.com
Active-duty Air Force TSgt Jennifer Smith exposes Air Force indifference to blatant sexual harassment and retaliation against many of those who report misconduct
Washington DC – Active-duty Air Force Technical Sergeant Jennifer Smith, who has honorably served our country for seventeen years recently went public with allegations of sexual abuse, harassment and hostility toward women that is fostered by United States Air Force leadership and traditions. Today, Protect Our Defenders is calling on Congress to immediately investigate the allegations and releasing the administrative complaint (PDF) filed on behalf of TSgt Smith and other active duty women against the Air Force alleging systemic and intentional sexual discrimination.
The administrative complaint filed by attorney Susan L. Burke contains extensive exhibits (PDF) detailing a wide range of sexual harassment, “including, but not limited to, verbal slurs and inferences, nonverbal gestures, pictures and notes, unwanted physical contact, unwanted touching, and physical advances.”
“We are proud of Jennifer’s bravery for coming forward and exposing the sexual harassment and hate speech against women that is not only allowed, but encouraged throughout the Air Force. Unfortunately, Jennifer is not alone. Her story is shared by thousands of fellow female Air Force personnel,” said Nancy Parrish, President of Protect Our Defenders. “Where vile hate speech is allowed to fester, rapes and assaults are not far behind. How many more men and women like Jennifer need to be harassed or assaulted before our elected leaders realize the military will not on it own fix this ‘silent epidemic’?”
Protect Our Defenders is calling on the Chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Los Angeles County) and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Michigan) to investigate the allegations against the Air Force.
After 17 years of exemplary service, including tours in Iraq, Kuwait, Korea and Germany Jennifer decided she had enough of a military environment that too often is hostile to women. According to the complaint, she recently told a commanding officer of an assault she endured in Iraq and asked that violent pornographic Air Force songs, videos and photos be removed from government computers at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, where she and others see the material when they log onto a computer. At the time of the administrative filing, the offensive and degrading materials were still on government servers.
Some of the most disturbing content included in the administrative complaint has been stored in collections of Songbooks from the 55th, 77th, and 79th Fighter Squadrons, which have been used to record traditions and songs. They contain obscene, violent and misogynistic language and pornographic images, including the “Fighter Pilot Songs – Combat Songbook; F**k Songs and Trash Tunes.”
The Air Force is aware of this hostile environment, but has taken no effective steps to stop the behavior. The administrative complaint alleges, “Smith and other female Air Force personnel should not be forced to endure such a hostile environment as a price to be paid for volunteering to defend this nation.”
Jennifer has earned constant promotions for her service and the highest performance reviews possible. She did not initially report her attacks, because she knew the Air Force would blame her, the victim, and reprimand her for not having a companion, a “battle buddy,” with her at all times.
According to the military’s own reports, there are 19,000 victims a year of mostly unpunished rape and sexual assault throughout the military. Yet only 13.5% come forward, primarily out of fear of retaliation. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs reports that veterans who had experienced military sexual trauma had a total of 696,250 Military Sexual Trauma (MST) related encounters with the VA in 2010 and that 20% of all women and 1% of all men have told the VA they experienced sexual trauma in the military.
“More than two decades ago I came forward to report my sexual assault at Tailhook. Nothing has changed in the military — as Jennifer’s story makes shockingly clear. Commanding officers continue to promote a culture that encourages criminal behavior and look the other way when victims report a sexual assault or harassment,” said military sexual assault survivor and Tailhook whistle-blower, Paula Coughlin-Puopolo. “The reporting and investigation of sexual assaults must be taken out of the chain of command. Command leaders are incapable of impartiality and it is up to our leaders on the Senate and House Armed Services Committee to do their jobs and put an end to this criminal behavior.”
More than twenty years ago the former Naval Aviator Paula Coughlin-Puopolo reported her assault to senior officers, who did nothing. So she went public in what became known as the “Tailhook scandal.” Earlier, this year Paula went public again demanding Rep. McKeon hold a congressional hearing about the criminal sexual abuse scandal at Lackland Air Force Base, to seek legislative remedy and so that the American public understand the scope of the horrific epidemic of rape in our military. At least 40 female trainees at Lackland say they were raped, sexually assaulted or victims of other sexual offenses by their instructors.
After weeks of pressure from Paula and other survivors organized by Protect Our Defenders, Rep. McKeon announced that he intends to hold “open and complete” hearings into the sexual abuse scandal at Lackland. Meanwhile, Air Force officials have claimed what happened at Lackland was an “isolated” incident.
Protect Our Defenders is calling on Congress once again to do it’s job of oversight and begin an investigation into the systemic, misogynistic culture within our military.
Over the past year Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced several reforms to address what he calls a “silent epidemic” of military sexual assaults, like bumping the reporting of rape and sexual assault further up the chain of command. But, it does little to address the problem. Many survivors, like Jennifer have made it clear that senior commanders are just as capable of encouraging or ignoring misogynistic behavior or covering up assaults and they frequently do. Commanders are incentivized to sweep problems under the rug, as their careers can be adversely affected if a rape or sexual assault is reported on their watch. And the DOD reports (PDF), “39% of women report that the perpetrator was a military person of higher rank and 23% indicated the offender was someone in their chain of command.”
“The prevalence of rape of both men and women in our military, the failure to prosecute perpetrators and the retaliation against victims continues to undermine readiness, unit cohesion and morale,” said Parrish.
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Read the New York Times article about Jennifer, “Military Has Not Solved Problem of Sexual Assault, Women Say”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/us/women-in-air-force-say-sexual-misconduct-still-rampant.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
View the Administrative Complaint filed by Attorney Susan Burke:
https://www.protectourdefenders.com/downloads/FINAL_SMITH_ADMIN_COMPLAINT.pdf
View exhibits from the Administrative Complaint:
https://www.protectourdefenders.com/downloads/Smith_ExhibitSelects_20121101.pdf
Contact info for the House Armed Services Committee for comment:
Claude Chafin, Claude.Chafin@mail.house.gov (202) 225-4151
Paula Coughlin-Puopolo’s petition demanding Congress investigates the Lackland sexual assault scandal can be viewed here:
http://action.protectourdefenders.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8040
Read the National Journal’s cover story “The Enemy Within”
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-military-s-rape-problem-20120913
About Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders is a human rights organization. We seek to honor, support and give voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been sexually assaulted while serving their country, and re-victimized by the military adjudication system – a system that often blames the victim and fails to prosecute the perpetrator. Learn more about Protect Our Defenders at www.protectourdefenders.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ProtectOurDefenders or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ProtectRDfnders.