Military Veterans File Suit Over Rape Claims

WASHINGTON - More than a dozen U.S. veterans who say they were raped or assaulted by comrades filed a class-action suit in federal court Tuesday attempting to force the Pentagon to change how it handles such cases.

The current and former service members - 15 women and two men - describe circumstances in which servicemen allegedly got away with rape and other sexual abuse while their victims were ordered to continue to serve with them.

Air Force Sgt. Convicted of Mistreating Women
Raw Video: Military Sexual Assault Testimony in Washington

The suit names Defense Secretary Robert Gates and his predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld. The plaintiffs say individual commanders have too much say in how allegations are handled and that they want reforms in the system.

The alleged attackers in the lawsuit include an Army criminal investigator and an Army National Guard commander. The abuse alleged ranges from obscene verbal abuse to gang rape.

In one incident, an Army Reservist says two male colleagues raped her in Iraq and videotaped the attack. She complained to authorities after the men circulated the video to colleagues. Despite being bruised from her shoulders to elbows from being held down, she says charges weren't filed because the commander determined she "did not act like a rape victim" and "did not struggle enough" and authorities said they didn't want to delay the scheduled return of the alleged attackers to the United States.

"The problem of rape in the military is not only service members getting raped, but it's the entire way that the military as a whole is dealing with it," said Panayiota Bertzikis, who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit and claims she was raped in 2006. "From survivors having to be involuntarily discharged from service, the constant verbal abuse, once a survivor does come forward your entire unit is known to turn their back on you. The entire culture needs to be changed."

Although The Associated Press normally does not identify the victims of sexual assault, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit have publicly discussed the cases.

Bertzikis, 29, of Somerville, Mass., now is executive director of the Military Rape Crisis Center. She says she was raped by a Coast Guard shipmate while out on a social hike with him in Burlington, Vt. Bertzikis complained to her commanding officer, but she said authorities did not take substantial steps to investigate the matter. Instead, she said, they forced her to live on the same floor as the man she had accused and tolerated others calling her a "liar" and "whore."

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said in a statement that sexual assault is a wider societal problem and that Gates has been working to ensure the military is doing all it can to prevent and respond to it.

"That means providing more money, personnel, training and expertise, including reaching out to other large institutions such as universities to learn best practices," Morrell said. "This is now a command priority, but we clearly still have more work to do in order to ensure all of our service members are safe from abuse."

The military had already planned to roll out a new hotline victims can call in April, said Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith. It has another initiative that encourages service members to help those who are assaulted or raped. In 2005, the military created an office charged with preventing sexual assault. Victims can opt to file a "restricted" or confidential report that allows them to get medical attention without an investigation being triggered.

Smith said in a statement that when commanders learn of accusations of misconduct they are responsible for investigating it and taking appropriate action. She said commanders have demonstrated "time and time again" in sexual assault cases and in others that they "take seriously the trust that comes with leadership and the need for good order and discipline."

Sarah Albertson, a former Marine corporal who is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said that one of the hurdles in getting improvements in the system is that military commanders do not want any marks on their record such as a rape in their unit. Albertson alleges she reported she was raped in 2006 by a fellow Marine, but instead of helping her, she was forced to live one floor below the alleged perpetrator for two years.

"People who did believe me and had my back and were supportive of me were still telling me, `Don't tell anybody about this, don't go to the public, don't let this get out because it will make the military look bad,"' Albertson said.

In many of the described cases, no charges were filed. In other cases, the alleged attackers faced lesser charges and were allowed to remain in the military, according to the lawsuit.

Kori Cioca, 25, of Wilmington, Ohio, described being hit in the face by a superior in one incident in 2005 and being raped by the same man in a second incident soon after while serving in the Coast Guard in Bay City, Mich.

Even though the man confessed to having sex with her, Cioca said in the lawsuit she was told if she pressed forward with reporting the sex as a rape, she would be court-martialed for lying. She said the man pleaded guilty only to hitting her and his punishment was a minor loss of pay and being forced to stay on the base for 30 days. She said she was discharged from the military for a "history of inappropriate relationships."

"You think of a Coast Guardsman, you think of somebody in the military holding themselves at a certain level," Cioca said. "When somebody walks up to you and shakes your hand and says, `Thank you for your service,' little do they know they're shaking the hand of a man who rapes and beats women in the military."

She said she continues to suffer from numbness in her jaw and has nightmares.

"My body hurts every day. My face hurts. I get the most horrible headaches. My body has been trespassed. The honor that I had was stripped from me. I'm no longer proud of myself. People tell me thank you for your service, but my service wasn't what it was supposed to be," Cioca said.

Anuradha Bhagwati, 35, executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, said the Defense Department's own statistics show that fewer than one in five of these cases are even referred for court martial. She said unit commanders are the judge and the jury in these types of cases. Too often, she said, perpetrators are given non-judicial punishments.

"A lawsuit like this is needed because change cannot happen on the inside. DoD has had literally decades, perhaps more, to change the culture within the military. They've proven that they can't, and even the minor changes they've made the last few years are so superficial," Bhagwati said.

[greensthings-2009]

1979.
18 years old.
The Army.
Germany, sent out to the field for the first time.
The only woman and 1500 men.
I was the Medic, they were Engineers.
Alone, in the dark being watched, only I didn't know
Vilseck, Germany after two weeks without a shower, we were allowed to go to Tent city for 2 days.
Much Celebrating. Much Drinking. After showers the partying started.
I was invited.
A cute boy
Fun
free drinks
more drinks
Something wrong....
Room spinning
Dizzy
can't walk
being carried
pass out
wake up
can't move
tied up
can't talk
gag in mouth
voices
someone on me
wet between the legs
laughter
another body on me
tears
another body
all night
over and over again
how many?
Don't know
too many
over and over again
thrusting
sweaty
pawing
pain
tearing
more laughter
in and out of conscience
how many?
could be twenty
could be a hundred
all ranks
all sizes
all ages
all *******
all thrusting
all sweating
lots of pain
smell of greasy tent
smell of booze
smell of tobacco
smell of man sweat
smell of *****
smell of sex
all thrusting
all groping
all squeezing
all pawing
only one, who when he saw my tears, stopped in his tracks
But he walked out, and another came in to take his place
over and over again
no help
none in sight
all night long
in and out of reality
in and out of dreams
more body's
more men
more thrusting
how many hours?
finally the sweet release of awareness
awakening
naked
in the showers
bruises and blood everywhere
Pain
oh my God the pain
all consuming pain
my clothing in a pile
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
water is cold
scrub some more
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
scrub
put on uniform
met at door, by commanding Officer
stern words about MY behavior
told if I talked, it would be MY fault
Threatened with prison for "enticing"
handed orders to be transfered
Told to pack my bags
Transportation waiting
Warned again
If you talk, you die
or worse
watching blindly as the trees roll by
curling up inside of me
hiding the pain
hoping the pain will fade
as the bruises do
can't walk, can't sit, can't take a ****
blaming myself
Others have
so why not me?
Guilt
it weighs on a mind
remembering what was said
silence it is my friend
denial
lock the pain away
never talk they said
never talk I did
The pain it became my friend
To this day, it never ends.

[reneedj]

Hang these sorry mf's by their nuts!!

[Beauwick]

The people of the military that were assaulted will probably never get over what happened to them. I know because as a former Army Veteran from 1961 to 1963 I was molested by a Major while I was stationed in Germany, at that point in my life I had never really experienced sex and actuallky didn;t know who I really was, after two failed marriages due to the fact that I could not idenify intimacy with sex because all I could do while having sex was think of that Carrot Red Haired Major who had violated me and to this day ( I know that I am a gay man, but not at that time, I have a life partner of 20 years and hve problems with associating intimacy with sex, but we love one another.

When I reported this major to a higher ranked Oficer all of a sudden I was under investigation by the C.I.D. and agreed toi be discharged under honorable conditions, I was just a kid and If I knew then what I know now things would have been diferent in my life. I am 66 years old and have a brilliant memory of exactly what happened, who did it, his first and last name, our command and his filthy hands touching and violating me.

I am also against the repeal of " Don't ask, don't tell" policy, because all I can think of is how many lawsuits it will cause, with our Government broke and hard times yet to come, we will look back as a nation and realize that wearing an arm band stating that you are gay and proud will only cause dismay.

If I had the patience I would have written a book on this. Just making a comment and getting this off of my chest.

Regards,

[IBBuckshot]

Maybe this could be the cure for the problem of things not getting handled. Let's say as part of the advancement to CO there is initiation.
To learn responsibility and the issues one will have to make decisions on the initiant must go into a locked room with two bruiser at least 50 to 80 pounds heavier than the initiant. Then let the games begin and get raped, held down, unable to move or help oneself and take it. But the next part of the initiation to becoming the CO is to be forced to live in the same quarters as the two bruisers for six months, sit at the same table while they smile and talk about the fun incident and just let the initiant feel how this all mentally effects his life henceforth. Then maybe when a young woman or young man comes in and has the courage to swollow pride and ask for help, well maybe there would be a different reaction. What do you think?

[myth1958]

I live in one of the cities mentioned in this story - and will never look at that military installation the same way again. As a man, I am disgusted by the 'old boys network' mentality that is revealed in this piece. No man - hero soldier to Prime Minister of Italy to bum on the street - has a right to force himself upon an unwilling partner. Period. And the commanders who allow perpetrators to walk off virtually scot-free while ostracizing the victims are as culpable as the rapists themselves. They are facilitating this behavior by treating it so casually. How would they react if their wife - their daughter - their granddaughter - were raped? They'd get a gun and put the jerk off the planet, that's what they'd do. To minimize such horrible events is equivalent to treason: what do they stand for, anyway? Nothing. These aren't real men who respect women and want to see justice. They are criminals themselves - co-conspirators in a crime against women. Let the judges take this field of law away from the military, for God's sake. These 'good old boys' have demonstrated they are incompetent as leaders - and undeserving of whatever rank they've been given. Let them be raped; then they'll understand.

[formrusmcsgt]

by galvet February 15, 2011 6:14 PM EST
Easier said than done. You have no idea. It's like being violated all over again. So you just shut up an bear it.

---

Then you have no gripe when nothing gets done about it, do you?

[galvet]

You've missed my point totally. The whole system is flawed. That is my gripe. Besides, my experiences were 1969-1972. Things are slowly getting better.

[formrusmcsgt]

She says she was raped by a Coast Guard shipmate while out on a social hike with him in Burlington, Vt.
--
Then why didn't she file charges with the local authorities?

[morgansher]

Because when the victim and perp are in the military, the civilians typically defer the case to the military so they don't have to deal with it.

[JavMD]

this is good CBS News: The Sports Illustrated Swim Suit cover is the article below this 'rape' news...

Media pushs too much sex onto the public ! Don't get me wrong, I am a man, and if women want to show it, i'll look. They should cover up more... enough boobs showing is plenty these days...

and Look at the CBS News report in Egypt... she should have never been there... cover the news from the balcony of the hotel... foolish...

we don't have to be in the middle of the news to report it. (behind the battle lines is fine... she 'paid' with her 'life' on that one.

Americans are fools

[run2jazz2]

I had plenty of women as soldier and never was there any thought in my mind of doing anything to them in a sexual manner. These sorry a** soldiers who commmitted these acts need to be court-martialed with a less than honorable discharge. No soldier deserves this!

[Birdman04]

There are heroes in the military and scum in the military.
The scum always give the good a bad name and ruin it for those that are decent people who serve in our armed services.

[6591Hou]

You are correct, the people who enter the military bring all of their lifetime baggage with them - for good or ill.