For women in the military, the majority of assaults or rape happen by someone with a higher rank than them and 24 percent within their chain of command. In 2018, 20,500 service members were sexually assaulted or raped — 13,000 were women and 7,500 were men. Over 1,325,000 outpatient visits took place at the Veterans Affairs for Military Sexual Trauma (MST) in 2017.

The military takes these allegations on their own hands and it’s usually up to the chain of command to decide how to proceed, if at all. Many times, no action is taken. This is why it’s important to create a third party to make sure sexual allegations and assaults are examined from a party that has no vested interest in it other than to find the truth and assist the victims.

The majority of the cases of sexual violence go unreported. Just as what happens outside the military, many women do not report the sexual abuse because they fear retaliation. They are more likely to be removed from the military within seven months after making the report. The “prosecutorial power” in sexual assault cases in the military should not be handled by the perpetrator’s direct superior, as this has led to a lack of accountability and consequences. 

On April 22, 2020, Army Spc. Vanessa Guillen went missing in Fort Hood, Texas. Almost three months later, her body was found. She was killed by another soldier with a hammer and dismembered with a machete with the help of the soldier’s girlfriend. The soldier killed himself; his girlfriend has been arrested, pleading not guilty. Guillen had been experiencing sexual harassment and had confided in her family about it, but had not given the name of the perpetrator. She feared retaliation.

The cold-blooded murder of Guillen brought sexual violence for women in the military to the forefront. Currently, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy directs an “independent” and “comprehensive review” of the base’s handling of the case. 

Around the time Guillen’s body was found, the hashtag #IAMVANESSAGUILLEN trended in various social media circles. Many women posted their own experiences while serving in the military on social media. Many voiced what happened to them, ranging from sexual harassment to violent rapes, which mostly resulted in no action taken against the perpetrators.

In response to the large numbers of sexual assault issues in the military back in 2004, a Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) was established in order to serve as the “single point of authority for assault policy.” However, based on the many reports since then, it is still a big problem. How can we accept the fact our very own who are willing to serve our country have to experience sexual assault at any level?

We shouldn’t.

While we cannot prevent 100 percent of all cases, the culture of the military needs to change.

President Donald Trump had a controversial tweet in 2013, which he asserted as correct in 2016: “26,000 unreported sexual assaults in the military – only 238 convictions. What did these geniuses expect when they put men & women together?” Although these views are a part of the reason why women suffer sexual harassment and assaults at higher rates than men, he did say there should be consequences for “evil, so bad” actions where currently “nobody is doing anything.”

However, there are people trying to make change. The Military Justice Improvement Act would remove the chain of command’s decision-making from the process of sexual assaults. Independent and professional military prosecutors would oversee these complaints. This bill was introduced in 2016 and again this year, but it is still sitting in the Senate Armed Services Committee. 

A new bill in response to Vanessa Guillen’s murder is going to be introduced at the end of July as the #IAMVANESSAGUILLEN bill. This bill would also provide a third-party review for sexual violence against service members, which will not only help women but men that are sexually harassed or abused while in service. President Trump is meeting with the Guillen family a few days prior to the introduction of the bill on July 31. In a recent interview, he called the killing of Guillen “absolutely horrible.” He also said, “we will investigate a lot.”

The simplest way to solve this problem would be for soldiers that abuse other soldiers to be decent human beings, but obviously that hasn’t worked and still won’t. Young women thinking about joining the military should not have to be warned they will probably experience sexual assault.

The government needs to act now in producing laws that protect those who experience sexual assaults while serving and establish preventative measures as well. Using a third party to oversee these types of complaints would be the first step toward a more fair and just system for those who risk their lives for this great country.