How it all began.

We often are asked how we got started with Stop Military Rape/Military Rape Crisis Center.

I am a veteran of the United States Coast Guard and a survivor of Military Sexual Trauma.

I was raped in May 2006 by a fellow shipmate. I followed all the necessary steps including reporting the assault and providing evidence (including a confession by my perpetrator.)

In August 2006 I was informed that I’d be discharged. According to the then Coast Guard Academy psychologist and Captain; surviving rape makes one ineligible for worldwide deployment and as a result I can no longer serve in the Coast Guard.  What followed was a 9-month battle between the Coast Guard and I while I tried to keep my job and to change the Coast Guard's unofficial policy of Rape survivors should be allowed to serve in the Coast Guard.

I was a female in my early 20s, brand new to the Coast Guard. I admit it; I did not know every Coast Guard policy or tried to do something beyond my E/3 rank. All I knew was that what was happening to me was just not right. I felt powerless. I did not know how to fight the military. I was taught how to fight with them, for them but how can I fight for my rights to stay in?

Out of the need to vent and needing an outlet to express the horror I was experiencing I started an online blog. I was not expecting much of it. I just wanted to let out all the pain in me and share it with the public. Almost immediately I started receiving emails from Active duty military members and veterans. Each wanting to share their story. Everybody story was so different yet so similar. I received one email from an 18 years old female who was raped 2 hours ago by a member of her command and was scared and had no one else to turn to. I received an email from a Coast Guard veteran who was raped 10+ years ago while serving and I was the first person he ever told about the rape.

I started doing research online on Military rape. I learned about Tailhook and read the brave story of Army Specialist Suzanne Swift.

What was happening to me in the Coast Guard was very common and been going on for a long time. I knew then that I was in for the biggest battle of my life. I could not abandon my fellow brothers and sisters in uniform. Something has got to change.

Stop Military Rape and The Military Rape Crisis Center was formed.

We are the nation's largest support group for survivors of military sexual trauma. In 2007 we assisted over 1200 men and women that experienced Military Sexual Trauma and their families.  

We are starting to work with the congress to change the military policy on sexual assault.

Every man and woman that volunteered to serve their country should have the right to serve without fear of being sexual harassed, sexual assaulted and/or raped. In addition, no one should be reprimanded or punished for reporting a crime that was done to them.

May 30th is Stop Military Rape Awareness day. Write to your representatives, contact your media. Tell them how important it is to put an end to Military rape. With your help we can prevent future assaults on our military men and women.

Sincerely,

PB

Executive Director, Military Rape Crisis Center

Coast Guard Veteran, rape survivor

Read more from our Executive Director

Read her first person account of surviving rape in the Coast Guard

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
- Elie Wiesel

1. The people who are responsible for rape are the rapists.
2. Blaming women for being raped is not acceptable.
3. If you tell women to modify their behavior to avoid rape then you are placing the responsibility for rape in the wrong place.
4. Avoiding being out alone out night is a serious restriction on a woman’s freedom.
5. Anti-rape advice isn’t just victim-blaming, it’s also wildly inaccurate.
6. Most rapists know the women that they rape.
7. Rape is most likely to happen in someone’s home.
8. A woman who walks home with a man she knows is at more danger from rape than a woman who walks home by herself.