“This is an epidemic in our military system, in our culture. But the problem is you could always have punished for retaliation.”The Guillén family plans to lead a peaceful protest in Washington DC, on 30 July, when they will present their proposed bill to lawmakers. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.A mural in Austin, Texas, of Spc. “We believe that Vanessa told him that she was reporting him, and that’s why he bludgeoned her,” said the Guillén family attorney, Natalie Khawam. Now, they're demanding change.
Vanessa Guillén may have faced "non-sexual harassment," the Army said, revealing new details in a case that has galvanized servicewomen and the Latino community. Vanessa Guillen is seen on an altar at the base of a mural of Guillen on 14th Street NW in Washington, Monday, July 13, 2020.

“As a symbolic gesture, it made sense. We let her family down,” McCarthy said.Ryan McCarthy said that Fort Hood has some of the the highest rates of murder, sexual harassment and assault of any Army installation in the country.Get breaking news alerts and special reports. However, efforts to pass legislation reforming military justice faltered over a debate about commanders’ roles in prosecuting sexual assault.In 2013, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand introduced the Military Justice Improvement Act, which would give independent military prosecutors outside the chain of command control over sexual assault cases. An Army veteran, a local organization, and the Sanchez Ice House teamed up to create a mural in honor of two Army soldiers whose remains have recently been found near Fort Hood. He announced ““Vanessa was our teammate, and we let her down. Guillén’s family say they learned what allegedly happened to Vanessa as the public did.Aguilar appeared in court earlier this month but did not make any statement other than to acknowledge the charges against her. Last year, 6,236 reports of sexual assault were filed by active duty service members. The murder of Spc. "So we are receiving an outside look to help us to get to those root causes. vanessa-guillen How Houston, the US are demanding justice for Vanessa Guillen LULAC wants an independent agency created to address claims of military sexual harassment, and they want it … After over two months in which hundreds of people searched for her across large parts of central Texas, remains were found in late June, and were later identified as Guillén’s.As her family publicly pressed for answers, the army announced that a suspect, soldier Aaron David Robinson, died on 1 July by suicide as law enforcement pursued him. Officials say Specialist Vanessa Guillen was brutally killed at the base and the military suspects foul play in the unrelated death of Gregory Morales. Awareness and outrage over sexual violence in the military grew after the 2012 documentary Invisible War. In 2015, a sergeant with the base’s sexual assault reporting unit – which Guillén would have reported to had she lodged a complaint – pleaded guilty to running a prostitution ring with vulnerable young soldiers.“It’s like a fox in the hen house,” Khawam told the Guardian. And what ended up happening is that this amazing and beautiful family gave this beautiful girl to this country, and they chewed her up and spit her out like she was garbage.” "McCarthy said social unrest following the death of George Floyd in police custody forced the Army to take a hard look at itself, "and in doing so there has been a reckoning. Vanessa Guillen's mother prays for change at mural honoring Spc. Robinson’s girlfriend Cecily Aguilar, a civilian, was arrested and later charged with conspiracy to tamper with evidence.The Department of Justice released a criminal complaint alleging that Robinson had murdered Guillén at the base, then dismembered and buried her body near the Leon River, with Aguilar’s help. The department’s estimated number of sexual assaults rose sharply between 2016 and 2018, an increase driven mostly by women aged 17 to 24, like Guillén.Guillén’s disappearance prompted protesters to march in the streets across major cities in Texas over Independence Day weekend, before her remains were found. "The numbers are high here. Her dismembered McCarthy said Guillén’s death was a turning point in how the Army handles sexual assaults and harassment. The then senator Claire McCaskill offered her own legislation proposing many of the same reforms, but kept power within the chain of command, deferring to tradition. McCaskill, a former sex crimes prosecutor, found herself labeled as the roadblock to the most significant piece of congressional legislation challenging Though Congress criminalized retaliation, among a number of reforms, it remains a significant barrier to reporting in the fraternal world of the military. Offerings sit in front of a mural of the slain army specialist Vanessa Guillén painted on a wall in the south side of Fort Worth, Texas. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy has pledged to create "enduring change" to honor the memory of Vanessa Guillén, an Army specialist who authorities say was killed by a fellow soldier. ""We have to address the challenges and barriers that our soldiers endure. ... Vanessa Guillen's death hit home. She told family and friends that she was being sexual harassed by two different soldiers who outranked her, including Robinson, but never formally reported the allegations, fearing retaliation.A lawyer for the Guillén family told the Houston Chronicle that they provided Robinson’s name to authorities. The defense department was able to substantiate only one of the 129 retaliation cases it investigated in 2018, and 64% of service members surveyed said they experienced retaliation for reporting assault. The 20-year-old soldier said she was being sexually harassed by superiors before her dismembered body was found in TexasThe disappearance and killing of soldier Vanessa Guillén has gripped Texas, and reignited widespread outrage over sexual violence in the Guillén, 20, disappeared from the Fort Hood military base in Killeen on 22 April. Sixty-six per cent of retaliation reports allege that retaliators were in the soldier’s chain of command.