Content warning: This email discusses sexual assault.

John,

Three weeks before Vanessa Guillén disappeared from Fort Hood, her mother Gloria asked why she seemed different. She noticed Vanessa had become withdrawn and wasn’t sleeping well.

Vanessa confided to her mom that she was being sexually harassed by one of her sergeants on her base — he would follow her when she was working out and even to the showers. Gloria offered to help report him and stop this from escalating, but Vanessa insisted on taking care of it herself.

Then on April 22, 2020 Vanessa Guillén went missing without a trace. Two months later, Vanessa’s remains were found. It’s been 88 days since Vanessa’s disappearance and her family still hasn’t received any answers about her death from the US Army.

That’s why we’re calling on Congress to shut down Fort Hood and hold the military accountable for their failures leading up to Vanessa’s death. We need justice for Vanessa and every woman in the military that’s experienced sexual assault.

Months have passed and Guillén’s family is still demanding justice and answers to the disappearance of Vanessa.

“Yo exijo justicia y exijo que me respeten a mi y que respeten a mi hija/I demand justice and demand that I be respected and that my daughter be respected,” is the heartbreaking statement Vanessa’s mother made at a press conference.

Vanessa Guillén’s death is yet another disturbing example of justice delayed for women of color. It took a massive public outcry for the military to make any progress in this investigation or respond to complaints about the military’s longtime failures addressing sexual harassment, in particular for women of color. One study found that when violence is perpetrated against white women, there is more media coverage, a phenomenon known as Missing White Woman Syndrome.¹

It’s time for the media and our leaders to treat violence against women of color with as much urgency and attention as it does in response to violence against white women. We must equally value the lives of women like Breonna Taylor and Vanessa Guillén.

We demand justice and change. Some close to the family are calling for a bill in Specialist Guillén’s name that would create an independent agency for members of the military to report sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Will you help echo these demands to Congress so they can shut down Fort Hood and make sure the military addresses the systemic problems that led to Vanessa’s death and countless others?

In solidarity,

Women's March

P.S. - Join us for a live discussion on the @womensmarch IGTV on Monday, July 20 (tomorrow) at 2pm PT/5pm ET with Board Member, Lucy Flores, and political strategist, Pam Campos, to learn more about Vanessa’s case and how we must address sexual assault in the military.

1 - Northwestern Law