Twelve sexual assaults were reported to the Vermont National Guard in fiscal year 2016. Three happened in the same year, and nine were reported as occurring in previous years.
The data show that sexual assaults reported happened as early as 2008—five years before the 2013 law that required the Vermont National Guard to submit an annual report to the Legislature.
In one case, a person accused a Vermont National Guard member of rape that happened in 2012, and the service member was discharged “as a result of sexual harassment charges.”
The Vermont National Guard is required to report on sexual assault, sexual harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation as part of a 2013 law spearheaded by Rep. Jean O’Sullivan, D-Burlington, who says a hypermasculine military culture is linked to sexual assault and sexual harassment.
“The Vermont National Guard has a moral obligation to keep our men and women safe from those with intentions to attack their dignity and honor,” Vermont Adjutant General Steven Cray wrote in the executive summary of the report, which condemns sexual assault repeatedly.
“The Vermont National Guard is unequivocal in its commitment to ensure that survivors of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and gender discrimination based on sexual orientation are protected, treated with dignity and respect and provided proper care while perpetrators are held accountable for their actions,” Cray wrote.
Cray and a team of leaders who handle sexual assault at the Vermont National Guard presented the report Friday to a joint hearing of the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs and the Senate Government Operations Committee.
“Sexual assault is massively underreported across the country,” Captain Scott Detweiler told lawmakers. He said the Vermont National Guard continues to see two or three sexual assaults every year, in addition to reports of assaults from years ago.
Sen. Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, said it appears that very few sexual assaults are being reported in comparison to the size of the Vermont National Guard. There are about 4,000 members, and about 400 are full-time.
Rep. Tom Stevens, D-Waterbury, said he would consider it a success to see a higher number of sexual assaults reported “not because it’s good that they’re assaulted or harassed, but because more people are feeling comfortable within your culture.”
According to a 2014 report of the full U.S. military, about 5 percent of female service members and 1 percent of male service members are sexually assaulted each year. About half of the women who reported assault, according to the report, said they experienced either workplace or social retaliation.
The Vermont National Guard cannot prosecute sexual assault but must report it to the U.S. Department of Defense and can support the survivor in reporting it to prosecutors. However, if a survivor does come forward more than six years after the assault happened, prosecutors are not able to bring criminal sexual assault charges.
Sen. Chris Pearson, P/D-Chittenden, calls that “an unreasonable burden on sexual assault survivors” who are dealing with “intense traumas” and has introduced S.42 to change that. Reps. Maxine Grad, D-Moretown, and Kiah Morris, D-Bennington, have introduced a similar bill, H.27, in the House.
Cray said in an interview it often takes “well over a year” for most survivors to report their sexual assaults. In the Vermont National Guard, he said there have been reports of events dating back to the 1990s because survivors are trusting the organization more to handle their complaints.
Cray said the Vermont National Guard works with community organizations to get survivors the support they need and gives the person the power to decide whether to have a formal investigation done, a choice his staff views as empowering to sexual assault survivors.
“We’re not a perfect organization, nor is society perfect on this issue at all, but we are making progress, and I think it mostly stems from the fact that we are willing to be more open and transparent and discuss this,” Cray said.
