HEY. there’s a woman named Nicole McCoy who has been raped four times during her services in the armed forces. she’s one of thousands, but when she tried to report it - something that most rape victims can’t even do - she found out that rapists in the military are NEVER required to put it on their discharge papers, or to enter the sex offender registry. this means that even if they’re reported, and even if they’re punished, they get a clean record as soon as they leave the army.
“When asked why sex offenders do not have to disclose on their discharge papers, some of the responses I was given were: 1) It will take too long to create a national database or 2) The military is going green and it takes too much paper to add an extra check box to discharge papers.”
according to an article from 2008, “only 181 out of 2,212 reports of military sexual assaults, or 8 percent, were referred to courts martial”. now we know that all 181 of those people who were even reprimanded were able be discharged with no fear of actual legal consequence.
Nicole got nothing but bad news when she tried to report her rapes, but she’s made a petition on Change.org to get the attention of the Department of Defense. she wants to make it a requirement to have rapists in the military registered as sex offenders, just like rapists everywhere else. you can check her petition out here. click the “About this petition” tab to read her story, and please take a minute to sign. i know how you feel about internet petitions, but Change.org has a good record. please show her your support.
