The mutilated body of Vanessa Guillén, a 20-year-old military victim of sexual assault, was found three months after her disappearance. His family managed to free speech within the US military and changed the law.
“At the age of 10, my daughter already knew that she would go to the army, remembers Gloria, the mother of Vanessa Guillén. At 20, the vocation is still there and Vanessa is committed. She finds herself assigned to the base of Fort Hood (Texas) where she maintains firearms. Originally from Houston (Texas), she can return home every weekend. She finds her mother Gloria and her sisters, Mayra and Lupe, as well as her boyfriend Juan.
This happiness is short-lived. On April 22, 2020, Vanessa was at home in Houston when she received a message asking her to return to base. The young soldier complies, joins Fort Hood… and gives no more news. His relatives are quickly surprised by his silence. The concern rises. In the evening, his sister Mayra contacts the base sergeant. “He told me that no one had seen her since the lunch break, she explains in the documentary. I decided to go with Juan, her boyfriend. I felt that something terrible had arrived.”
Every Friday, in front of the silent army, the family demonstrated
All was indeed not rosy at Fort Hood. The military base has a very bad reputation. It even has the highest rate of sexual assault of military bases in the United States. A few months after her incorporation, Vanessa started to have insomnia, to lose weight and even wondered about her commitment. “My daughter ended up confessing to me that she had been the victim of sexual harassment,” says her mother. A male supervisor had entered the women’s showers while she was washing, assaulted her…and his complaint was not taken seriously.
So, from the day of his disappearance, the family mobilizes. At the armory where Vanessa works, Mayra discovers that her sister’s car keys, driver’s license and wallet have been found. “The Military Policeman of the Criminal Investigation Division [division qui enquête sur les violations des lois militaires au sein de l’armée, NDLR] took his personal belongings out of his pocket, even though they were exhibits! There, I understood that if these people were in charge of finding Vanessa, I would never see her again.”
Vanessa had to file a complaint with her own attacker!
In fact, the investigation conducted by the military police is stalling. Alone facing the army, silent, the Guillén family decides to make some noise. At the end of their patience, they demonstrate every Friday in front of the Fort Hood base. “We wanted to make them understand that we would never give up on finding Vanessa,” explains Mayra. And public pressure is mounting. The family calls on the lawyer Natalie Khawam, a specialist in military law, who agrees to defend them free of charge. “Vanessa was incorporated on a federal military base. It’s supposed to be one of the safest places in the world, but in reality it’s not!, protests the lawyer. And everything was done to lead his family to an impasse. The military administration hides behind defense secrecy in order to leave the family in the dark.”
A real search is finally launched. At the end of June, Vanessa’s dismembered and burned body was found buried not far from the base, near a river. The investigation then turns to soldier Aaron Robinson, 20 years old. Gunsmith, he was Vanessa’s superior, and also her sexual aggressor according to the young woman’s family. The latter gave her several hammer blows on the head within the military base before hiding her in a box. Because he is not immediately arrested, Aaron Robinson leaves the base, flees and commits suicide. Only his accomplice is arrested: Cecily Aguillar, his mistress, is being prosecuted and will appear in January 2023.
The law that bears Vanessa’s name is hope for thousands of victims in the military
It’s a fiasco for the military police. The scandal is huge. On July 29, 2020, President Donald Trump received the victim’s family at the White House. The Guilléns want a law to properly protect soldiers who are victims of harassment and sexual assault, so that the army stops hiding behind its own jurisdiction.
After his election, Joe Biden in turn took up the subject. On December 27, 2021, a law is passed, which removes the military hierarchy’s ability to investigate cases of harassment or sexual assault, and establishes the obligation to request an independent investigation within 72 hours of receiving a complaint. of a soldier. In tribute, this law bears the name of Vanessa Guillén.
The scandal caused by this murder was enormous. The name of Vanessa Guillén is today that of a law, but has also been given, in homage, to a highway.
Vanessa dreamed of being a soldier from the age of 10. She died at age 20, killed in her armory by her superior.
Faced with the ineffectiveness of the military investigation, the family (here in Washington in July 2020) mobilized. Finally getting justice for Vanessa.
Disappeared in April 2020, the young woman was finally buried in August.