A number of female veterans have come forward to detail the horrific sexual assaults they faced at the hands of male military members while serving – with several revealing that the attacks led to unwanted pregnancies that prompted them to get abortions.
As part of a new, popular TikTok trend, numerous former soldiers have shared stories of the abuse that they suffered while fighting for their country.
Multiple women have spoken out about their choice to get abortions after being sexually assaulted while in the military – in the wake of the recent Roe v. Wade ruling.
One veteran said she was roofied and sexually assaulted by three services members; another claimed she was raped by her supervisor and was ‘bullied by fellow soldiers’ after she reported it; a third alleged that she was ‘pinned down’ and forced to have sex with a fellow soldier while at her first duty station.
Many female veterans are detailing the horrific sexual assault that they faced while serving in the military
As part of a new, popular TikTok trend, numerous former soldiers have shared stories of the abuse that they suffered while fighting for their country
Multiple women have spoken out about their choice to get abortions after being sexually assaulted while in the military – in the wake of the recent Roe versus Wade ruling
The first woman, who goes by the username @dv.bot online, shared her experience in a video which has now gone viral – gaining more 850,000 views in a matter of days.
‘My first year in the military, at 20 [years old], I was roofied and [sexually assaulted] by three service members,’ she wrote in the clip.
‘I ended up pregnant. I wanted to keep the baby, but didn’t want a child from a [sexual assault].’
The TikToker said her superiors ‘did nothing’ other than move the three service members to a different unit, but she was still forced to see them daily.
‘I asked for help, and got ignored,’ she stated.
She decided to go to an abortion clinic to end the pregnancy, and when her fellow soldiers found out, she said she was ‘bullied,’ branded a ‘baby killer,’ and ‘retaliated against.’
She continued: ‘I secretly went to a clinic out of state on the weekend alone, the procedure ended up ruining any chance I would ever have of having a child of my own.
‘I tried to keep it private, but once it was found out, I was called “a baby killer,” bullied, retaliated against, and my mental health was impacted. You have no idea what it is like to have to choose.’
In the captioned she added, ‘No woman makes this choice easily.’
The first woman, who goes by the username @dv.bot, said she was roofied and sexually assaulted by three services members in a video which has been viewed 850,000 times
The TikToker said her superiors ‘did nothing’ but move the three service members to a different unit, but she was still forced to see them daily. ‘I asked for help, and got ignored,’ she stated
She decided to go to an abortion clinic to end the pregnancy, and when her fellow soldiers found out, she said she was ‘bullied,’ branded a ‘baby killer,’ and ‘retaliated against’
A second women, named Kim, who goes by the username @HealingWithKim on TikTok, also spoke out – and her video has now been viewed more than 300,000 times.
‘My first year in the military, I was [sexually assaulted] by a supervisor and ended up with a pregnancy,’ she said.
‘I thought I wanted to keep the baby because I was a product of a similar situation, but I also had a lot of adoption trauma too.
‘When I reported that [sexual assault] I started to get bullied by fellow soldiers and retaliated against by leadership.
‘The command took over the investigation and sent me home on leave because my mental health was impacted.’
After returning home, Kim said her adoptive mom ‘shamed her’ and told her ‘not to ruin her life,’ so she went to a clinic and got an abortion.
‘When I returned [to the military], they decided not to pursue the trial because I “got rid” of valid “evidence,”‘ she shared.
‘But things started going back to “normal” and soldiers stopped bullying me. You have no idea what it’s like to have to choose. The choice was painful, but it was a survival choice.’
A second woman, named Kim, said she was sexually assaulted by a supervisor during her first year in the military, and ended up getting pregnant
She said when she reported the sexual assault she ‘started to get bullied by fellow soldiers’ and ‘retaliated against by leadership.’ She was then sent home
After returning home, Kim said her adoptive mom ‘shamed her’ and told her ‘not to ruin her life,’ so she went to a clinic and got an abortion
Another TikToker, named Dez, whose username is @.DezUhray, said that she was ‘raped’ by a man in the Army – who was supposed to be her ‘brother in arms.’
‘In 2012, I enlisted in the Army after one of my close friends committed suicide. I completed training at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, and Ft. Huachua, Arizona, then proceeded to my duty station at Ft. Hood, Texas,’ she revealed in a TikTok video, which has been watched more than 63,000 times.
After going to a party with some of her fellow soldiers, she said she woke up the next morning with ‘no memory and visible signs of rape.’
She continued: ‘One night I went to a party with the people who were supposed to be my brothers in arms.
‘I woke up the next morning with no memory and visible signs of rape. God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in my shoes.’
Another TikToker, named Dez, whose username is @.DezUhray , said that she too was ‘raped’ by a man in the Army – who was supposed to be her ‘brother in arms’
After going to a party with her fellow soldiers, she said she woke up the next morning with ‘no memory and visible signs of rape’
A fourth woman, whose username is @Meiraebaby, wrote that she was harassed, raped multiple times, and offered money for sex while serving in the military in a TikTok video which has gained more than 17,000 views.
‘At basic training, I was [sexually assaulted] by a male in my [platoon primary level training],’ she stated. ‘He was [a general].
‘At advanced individual training, I was sexually harassed with explicit pictures daily among, other things. He only stopped when I involved his friends.
‘The first night (not even at retention yet) of my first duty station, I was [raped] because he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
‘Two days later, he came to my barracks room and pinned me down and [raped] me again.
‘I reported him to SHARP [Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention] and after a very long process, I found out there was no probable cause “based on the accused statement saying the victim consented.”
She also claimed that another officer tried to ‘pay her to have sex with him.’
‘Reproductive rights are human rights. Soldiers don’t get to pick where they are stationed. Victims don’t have a say in if they’re raped or not,’ she added in the caption.
A fourth woman, whose username is @ Meiraebaby , wrote that she was harassed, raped multiple times, and offered money for sex while serving in the military in a TikTok video
She said a fellow soldier sent her ‘explicit pictured’ against her wished, and another raped her after he ‘wouldn’t take no for an answer’
After reporting him, she claimed she was told ‘there was no probable cause “based on the accused statement saying the victim consented”‘
The women detailed the traumatic experiences while the 1998 song What It’s Like by Everlast played in the background.
‘Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom that said he was in love,’ the lyrics to the track read. ‘He said, “Don’t worry about a thing, baby doll I’m the man you’ve been dreaming of.”
‘But three months later he say he won’t date her or return her calls. And she swear, “Goddamn, if I find that man I’m cuttin’ off his balls.”
‘And then she heads for the clinic and she gets some static walking through the door. They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner and they call her a w***e.
‘God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes. ‘Cause then you really might know what it’s like to have to choose.’
Some TikTok users didn’t share their stories in videos, but instead, they opened up about the past trauma they faced in the military via the comment section of the other women’s clips.
Some TikTok users didn’t share their stories in videos, but instead, they opened up about the past trauma they faced in the military via the comment section of the other women’s clips
According to a 2018 study published in the Trauma, Violence & Abuse journal, as reported by the New York Times, women make up only 16.5 per cent of the armed services – and nearly one in four report experiencing sexual assault, while more than half report experiencing harassment.
Per a 2021 report published by an independent review commission on sexual assault in the military, 6,200 sexual-assaults were reported in the military in 2020, and only 50 – about 0.8 per cent – ended in convictions.
In a 2018 survey by the Department of Defense, 38 per cent of servicewomen who reported sexual assault said they experienced professional retaliation afterwards.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is currently attempting to pass the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act – which will ‘reform the disposition of charges and convening of courts-martial for certain offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and increase the prevention of sexual assaults and other crimes in the military,’ per Congress.gov.
In 2020, Private First-Class Vanessa Guillen, 20 – who was training at the Fort Hood Army Base in Killeen, Texas – disappeared shortly after she told her family she was being sexually harassed by an unnamed sergeant and felt unsafe.
Her remains were found two months later, and a sergeant named Aaron David Robinson was later arrested for her murder.
He allegedly bludgeoned her to death, but it’s unclear if he was the man who had sexually harassed her, as he killed himself before his trial.
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