美国国家公共电台 NPR--#IAmVanessaGuillen documentary explores the culture of toxicity at Fort Hood

#IAmVanessaGuillen documentary explores the culture of toxicity¹ at Fort Hood²

Transcript³

The 2020 murder of Spc. Vanessa Guillén and the national outcry that followed helped shed a light on the widespread problem of sexual misconduct in the military.

The 20-year-old was murdered by another soldier while stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, after experiencing sexual harassment⁴. Her family has said she did not report those incidents for fear of retaliation⁵, though a U.S. Army investigation⁶ later found that she reported being sexually harassed⁷ twice. (The vast majority of such cases go unreported, many for this same reason.)

Guillén's family has been pushing for systemic change ever since. One major milestone⁸ came in January, when President Biden signed an executive order making sexual harassment a specific crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Guillén's killing⁹ also prompted officials to take a closer look at the culture of the base, which had seen a string of other deaths and disappearances¹⁰. An Army review conducted after Guillén's death found profound issues at Fort Hood, including a command climate "permissive of sexual harassment and sexual assault," and disciplined more than a dozen leaders as a result.

Women at Fort Hood have a higher risk of being sexually assaulted than the average woman in the Army, according to a RAND Corporation analysis. But the problem runs deeper than that particular base: Roughly 1 in 4 women in the military have experienced sexual harassment, and 1 in 16 have experienced sexual assault.

And many saw themselves in Guillén. One of those women is Karina López, a survivor¹¹ of sexual assault who was also stationed at Fort Hood. She left the base a month before Guillén disappeared in April 2020, and can't help but wonder whether she would have faced a similar fate had she stayed.

López says she was subjected to retaliation after reporting being sexually assaulted in her room by another soldier, and that commanders ignored her complaints. She filed a whistleblower complaint with the Pentagon and applied¹² for honorable discharge in 2019.

Moved by Guillén's death, López started speaking up on social media using the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillén and prompted scores of others to do the same.

She's now one of the subjects of a new Univision Noticias documentary by the same name, focusing on the culture of sexual misconduct at Fort Hood specifically. Versions of the film in both English and Spanish will launch online here on Thursday morning.

Morning Edition host A Martínez spoke¹³ with director Andrea Pati?o Contreras about the problems highlighted by the film, the reforms that Guillén's death made possible and the work that remains¹⁴.

This conversation has details that may be upsetting to some readers; it has been condensed for length and clarity.

Interview highlights

On the impact of military sexual trauma¹⁵

"Unfortunately this is very very common," the director says. "And some of the research that has been done says that experiencing military sexual trauma is a higher predictor of PTSD than going to combat."

On the role of individuals vs. institutions

López was almost driven to harm herself because she felt she had no allies or options.

Her concerned mother contacted her mentor¹⁶, now-retired Command Sgt. Major Sheldon Moore, who connected López with resources and tried to get her help. He says he was representing the Army, suggesting it should get credit for taking action by extension.

"In our reporting we found individuals who clearly are good leaders, they care for their soldiers, they truly understand the implications that this has, but when you zoom¹⁷ out there's clearly an institutional problem," Pati?o says. "I don't think a lot of those leaders said that or acknowledged that."

On the military's efforts to address sexual misconduct

The documentary details some of the programs that the military has established to help enlisted¹⁸ survivors¹⁹, including the SHARP program (which stands for Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention).

Pati?o says that before SHARP was created in 2008, there wasn't really a clear system for reporting incidents. Its training also cover what to do if someone witnesses sexual harassment, and how people can protect themselves.

Critics say some of the advice it offers — like avoiding going out alone and making sure to keep drinks covered — puts the responsibility on the victim rather than would-be perpetrators.

"While it's certainly important and needs to be there, it doesn't answer the question of accountability," Pati?o says. "And it doesn't answer the question of, well, you have this system in which people can get away with this crime."

On what other changes are needed

That's not the only factor, she adds, pointing to things like misogyny and the fact that the military handles sexual misconduct cases differently than the civilian²⁰ world.

Those conditions will take a long time to change, she says, though some important steps have been taken in recent years.

Notably²¹, the National Defense²² Authorization²³ Act that Biden signed in December draws several measures from the I Am Vanessa Guillén Act, including taking cases of sexual assault outside the survivor's immediate²⁴ chain of command so that their superiors are not making the decision about whether to prosecute²⁵.

Pati?o says those changes don't apply to sexual harassment, calling it a big contradiction because the two are closely linked. Indeed, research shows that sexual harassment against servicemen and women is strongly associated with the risk of sexual assault.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual harassment or sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE for 24/7 confidential²⁶ help.

The audio for this interview was produced by Lilly Quiroz and edited by Mohamad ElBardicy.

1 toxicity   

n.毒性，毒力

参考例句：

• The hoarse grunt or squeal is characteristic of toxicity.嘶哑的哼声和叫声是中毒的特征。
• Dieldrin is related to aldrin,and its toxicity to earthworms is similar.狄氏剂与艾氏剂有关，对蚯蚓的毒性是相似的。

2 hood   

n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖

参考例句：

• She is wearing a red cloak with a hood.她穿着一件红色带兜帽的披风。
• The car hood was dented in.汽车的发动机罩已凹了进去。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

5 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

8 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 disappearances   

n.消失( disappearance的名词复数 )；丢失；失踪；失踪案

参考例句：

• Most disappearances are the result of the terrorist activity. 大多数的失踪案都是恐怖分子造成的。 来自辞典例句
• The espionage, the betrayals, the arrests, the tortures, the executions, the disappearances will never cease. 间谍活动、叛党卖国、逮捕拷打、处决灭迹，这种事情永远不会完。 来自英汉文学

11 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

12 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

16 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

17 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

18 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

20 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

21 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

22 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

23 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

24 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

25 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

26 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。