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"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on Trial

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Sexual assault, specifically within the U.S. military, is rampant despite the military's "zero tolerance" policies. The persistence of sexual assault and harassment is due to a variety of factors, but it is best understood as a pattern of violence not authorized, nor ordered, but tolerated by officers, and often driven by the social dynamics among service members. Tolerance of sexual assault and harassment in the military presents itself in many forms, including low conviction rates of abusers, the dominant hazing culture, retaliation and ostracization against those that report incidents, all enabled by hierarchy and the chain of command. 

While in intel school shortly after enlisting, Jennifer Dane was sexually assaulted. After reporting the incident, she experienced retaliation, isolation, and being disbelieved. During her trial, rather than prosecuting her attacker, her sexuality was put on trial.

“I think having to be questioned about my sexual orientation and having to go out and get an attorney to represent me in the process of potentially discharging me was probably more traumatic than anything else that I experienced. I think there is a lot that I could heal for sexual violence, with a sexual assault, but not so much from just being who I was.”

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