Elizabeth Fraser
Bio
It’s ya girl, Liz.
Stories (1/0)
The Hurt of the Silenced
I am a Marine. I haven’t been in for too long and yet I have managed to see so many flaws in the system. My greatest concerns surround assault. By assault, I mean rape. I was assaulted in January of 2018. I was drinking, underage. As we service members are not only confined to do, but actually encouraged to do. I will not name names. I will only tell my story and the stories of those souls who have enlightened me with their harrowing and repulsive experiences. I reported my assault—immediately. I went to the ER, got the rape kit done, and made a report. This report became unrestricted due to the fact that a member of my command happened to be in the ER at the same time as me. I went to NCIS. I told them what happened but left out the damning detail that me and two of my peers were drinking alcohol. Prior to my interview with NCIS, I was told if anyone else got in trouble for what we were doing I would be in very, very hot water. So when NCIS found out I had lied about drinking they decided I had lied about everything else too. They said it was my fault for drinking with males. Keep in mind that they were the only people I had. I was the only female in my job field at that time. They also told me that I had only made a report because I felt guilty for cheating on my then-fiancé, so I reported it as an attempt to be transferred to his location. They blamed me for the entire ordeal. I will not lie. I did make a few mistakes. My first was trusting my brothers in arms. My second was drinking. My third was not keeping my knife on me so I could stab that bastard in the skull. Me and the two others were punished. My rapist was not. He did nothing wrong in the eyes of my superiors. I was made to be an attention-seeking whore looking for handouts. My friends deserted me. My unit exiled me. I was left alone. I have undergone intensive therapy for all I encountered before, during, and after the assault. But not all are so fortunate. One individual, whom I will call Bryan, was also raped. But his assault was not even looked into. It was disregarded because, in the eyes of the authorities, he was just a “fag” in the closet. He wasn’t even offered counseling. He is now in the brig for a drug addiction stemmed from the assault. Another named Mary was assaulted not once but twice. They moved her away from her station but let the rapist go because she was no longer there to fight for a conviction. My dear friend Tara was assaulted by what one would think was an upstanding member of society: a federal servant. That report didn’t even get past the local police because she didn’t have any signs of battery.
By Elizabeth Fraser6 years ago in Serve