Sexual Assault Survivors Accuse Military of Systemic Disinterest

December 23rd, 2006 12:26 pm
Sexual Assault Survivors Accuse Military of Systemic Disinterest

By Jessica Pupovac / NewStandard

Military sexual assault survivors and their advocates say the case of Suzanne Swift typifies the Pentagon’s failure to address the prevalence of sexual assault inside its ranks, as well as the unmet needs of survivors and the impunity enjoyed by assailants.

Swift went AWOL in January to avoid deployment with a battalion in which she underwent repeated incidents of sexual harassment and abuse. Now she is being thrown in the brig while only one of her three alleged transgressors has received so much as a letter of reprimand.

But "for the Army, this case shows how thorough and fair the military legal process is," according to Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Piek, the press officer at Fort Lewis, where Swift’s unit is based. Piek noted that the "thorough investigation" Swift’s allegations received demonstrate critics are wrong.

Swift’s former lawyer Lawrence Hildes offers a contrasting view. He told The NewStandard that when Swift was targeted for sexual harassment by her platoon sergeant in Kuwait in February 2005 and was then manipulated into having sex with another superior in Iraq later that year, she did not file a formal complaint out of fear. Her alleged assailant in Iraq "made it very clear to her that there would be real repercussions if she reported it, and she believed him," Hildes said.

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