Women sue US military chiefs over rapes
Former West Point and Annapolis cadets claim officials systematically ignore sexual crimes
Rupert Cornwell
Known for his commentary on international relations and US politics, Rupert Cornwell also contributes obituaries and occasionally even a column for the sports pages. With The Independent since its launch in 1986, he was the paper's first Moscow correspondent - covering the collapse of the Soviet Union – during which time he won two British Press Awards. Previously a foreign correspondent for the Financial Times and Reuters, he has also been a diplomatic correspondent, leader writer and columnist, and has served as Washington bureau editor. In 1983 he published God's Banker, about Roberto Calvi, the Italian banker found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge.
Washington
Tuesday 24 April 2012
Related articles
Two women have filed lawsuits against a former Secretary of Defence and other top officials, alleging they were raped while students at two of America's elite service academies, and that the Pentagon and the colleges did nothing to prevent it.
In the case, brought at federal court in New York, the former female cadets who attended West Point, the US Army college, and its naval counterpart at Annapolis claim their careers were ruined by the attacks. They are seeking not only sweeping reforms, but unspecified financial damages.
Named as defendants are Robert Gates, Secretary of Defence between 2006 and 2011, and the current secretaries of the Army and Navy, as well as the former superintendents of both academies. They are accused of being "personally responsible" on the grounds they "systemically and repeatedly" ignored "rampant sexual harassment". The US military establishment, says the lawsuit, has a "high tolerance for sexual predators in their ranks, and 'zero tolerance' for those who report rape, sexual assault and harassment".
Yesterday West Point and Annapolis insisted they had strong procedures in place to deal with rape and sexual harassment. The Pentagon would not directly address the alleged incidents, but Leon Panetta, Mr Gate's successor at the Pentagon, last week ordered new steps to curb thousands of sexual assault cases in the military: "We've got to train commanders to understand that they've got to do their damnedest to see that these people are brought to justice." The two women claim that while they were assured their cases were being followed up, nothing was done, and the alleged perpetrators were unpunished and stayed in the military.
Karley Marquet, 20, said she was in her first year at West Point in January 2011 when she was raped by an upperclassman. She reported the incident, but claimed that West Point required her "to empty her perpetrator's trash every day" as a requirement that freshmen follow all directions from upperclassmen. Ms Marquet states that she became "depressed and suicidal" and the "hostile environment" and eventually left. Investigators did meet her parents, and promised that if her rapist wasn't going to jail, "they could at least get him kicked out of West Point," she told CNN. But nothing happened. The other plaintiff, Annie Kendzior, now 22, chose the Naval Academy in 2008 over 30 other colleges, keen to fly Navy F-18 jets. But the suit states that she was raped twice, once by a fellow student aftera party and again months later in a hotel room by a classmate. Like Ms Marquet, Ms Kendzior maintains that she was promised action would be taken, but it never was.
The case comes a month after eight women filed a lawsuit in Washington DC, claiming they were raped or harassed while in the military, but suffered retaliation when they complained.
-
Stand by for another DECADE of wet summers, say Met Office meteorologists
-
Bosses of collapsed banks should be sent to jail, banking standards commission tells George Osborne
-
Feat of engineering: Incredible photographs show construction beneath New York's Second Avenue
-
World news in pictures
-
Google challenges US surveillance gagging order
- 1 Diary of Second World War German teenager reveals young lives untroubled by Nazi Holocaust in wartime Berlin
- 2 Bosses of collapsed banks should be sent to jail, banking standards commission tells George Osborne
- 3 Breaking the Silence: In the reality of occupation, there are no Palestinian civilians – only potential terrorists
- 4 Uri Geller psychic spy? The spoon-bender's secret life as a Mossad and CIA agent revealed
- 5 Vice pulls 'breathtakingly tasteless' fashion shoot glorifying the suicides of famous female authors from Sylvia Plath to Virginia Woolf
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
How will you make today delicious?
Tell us how you plan to make today delicious and you could win a £50 M&S gift card.
Learn a new language
Add another string to your bow with Rosetta Stone, whether it's Spanish, Italian or Mandarin...
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Independent Dating
iJobs General
PR Account Executive - Top Tech Agency in Surrey!
£18000 - £24000 per annum + Bens : May & Stephens Recruitment Group: If you ar...
Senior Associate – Procurement
£60000 - £70000 Per Annum: The Green Recruitment Company: The Green Recruitmen...
Quant Analyst, Banking, London, £55-60k Per Annum
£55000 - £60000 per annum + Benefits + Pension: Orgtel: Quantitative Analyst, ...
Senior Information Analyst - 3 Months contract
£200 - £250 per day: Progressive Recruitment: Urgent Requirement: Senior Inf...
Day In a Page
First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan
Scandi-geeks descend on Nordicana for fan-convention
Female aristocrats battle to inherit the title






