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Thursday 7 March 2019

Sen. McSally, ex-Air Force pilot, says officer raped her

By COLLEEN LONG duty. She didn’t name any harassment and assault in She said the public must vantage of her through
Associated Press names. the armed forces and the demand that higher-rank- “emotional manipulation”
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. She said she stayed silent larger #MeToo movement ing officials be part of the because her father had
Martha McSally, the first died. He denied the al-
female Air Force fighter legations. McSally served
pilot to fly in combat, said in the Air Force from 1988
Wednesday that she was until 2010 and rose to the
sexually assaulted by a rank of colonel before en-
superior officer, and lat- tering politics. In 2001, Mc-
er, when she tried to talk Sally sued the military so
about it to military officials, she would not be required
she “felt like the system was to wear a head covering
raping me all over again.” while she was stationed in
The Arizona Republican, the Middle East. McSally,
a 26-year military veteran, who had worked as a na-
made the disclosure at a tional security aide for Sen.
Senate hearing on the mili- Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., was elected
tary’s efforts to prevent sex- to the House in 2014 and
ual assaults and improve served two terms.
the response when they She was appointed by
occur. Lawmakers also Gov. Doug Ducey, R-Ariz.,
heard from other service in December to replace
members who spoke of be- the late GOP Sen. John
ing sexually assaulted and McCain after she narrowly
humiliated while serving lost last year’s race for Ari-
their country. zona’s other Senate seat to
McSally said she did not re- Democrat Kyrsten Sinema.
port being raped because McSally had been critical
she did not trust the sys- During a hearing by the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel about prevention of Donald Trump in 2016
tem, and she said she was and response to sexual assault in the military, Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., recounts her own but embraced a tough
ashamed and confused. experience with sexual assault while serving as a colonel in the Air Force, as Sen. Mike Rounds, stance on immigration
R-S.D., listens at right, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 6, 2019.
She said she was impressed Associated Press and praised the president
and grateful to the survivors during last year’s midterm
who came forward to help for years. But later, as she that roiled Hollywood and solution, setting the tone for election.
change the system. She watched the military grap- major corporations. their officers. She will serve until 2020,
was in the ninth class at the ple with how to handle sex- Reports of sexual assaults “We have come a long when voters will elect some-
Air Force Academy to al- ual assaults, she felt like she across the military jumped way to stop military sexual one to finish the final two
low women, and said sex- should speak out. nearly 10 percent in 2017 assault but we still have a years of McCain’s term.
ual harassment and assault “I was horrified at how my — a year that also saw an long way to go,” the sena- Defense officials have ar-
were prevalent. Victims attempt to share generally online nude-photo sharing tor said. “It took many years gued that an increase in
mostly suffered in silence, my experiences was han- scandal rock the Defense and too many lives ruined.” reported assaults reflects a
she said. dled,” she said. She almost Department. Reporting for Her colleagues on the greater willingness to report
McSally read from a pre- left the Air Force after 18 2018 is not yet available. committee lauded her for attacks, rather than indicat-
pared statement getting years. Reports of sexual assaults coming forward. ing assaults are rising. Sexu-
choked up at one point. “Like many victims, I felt like were also up at the military “I’m deeply affected by al assaults are a highly un-
She referred to “perpe- the system was raping me academies, most at West that testimony,” said Sen. derreported crime, both in
trators” who had sexually all over again.” Point . Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. the military and across soci-
assaulted her, an indica- McSally’s revelation comes McSally said she shares in McSally told the Wall Street ety as a whole. Greater re-
tion that she had been at- not long after Sen. Joni Ernst the disgust of the failures Journal last year that she porting, they argue, shows
tacked more than once. , R-Iowa, detailed her own of the military system and had been sexually abused there is more confidence
She did not say whether her abuse and assault, and at many commanders who as a teenager by her high in the reporting system and
assaults happened at the a time of increased aware- haven’t address the prob- school track coach. She greater comfort with the
academy or during active ness over the problem of lems of sexual misconduct. said the coach took ad- support for victims.q