audio, stills, text and or video: Go to zReportage.com to see more - Women who join the US Armed Forces are being raped and sexually assaulted by their colleagues in record numbers. An estimated 26,000 rapes and sexual assaults took place in the armed forces last year; only one in seven victims reported their attacks, and just one in ten of those cases went to trial. Victims spend years drowning in shame and fear as the psychological damage silently eats away at their lives: many frequently end up addicted to drugs and alcohol, homeless or take their own lives. In 2013, the Military Justice Improvement Act was introduced, intended to change the ways the military prosecutes sexual violence crimes and restricts commanding officer's power to set aside or overturn convictions for sexual violence, but in March 2014, the bill lost by five votes. In May, the Department of Defense Annual Report on Sexual Assault found that reports of sexual assault were up 50%. In response Defense Secretary Hagel, has implemented new measures to combat sexual assault. US Army Spc. Natasha Schuette, 21, was pressured not to report being assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training at Fort Jackson. Though she was hazed by her assailant's fellow drill instructors, she refused to back down and Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is now serving four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees. Natasha, who suffers daily from PTSD was recently rewarded by the Army for her courage to report her assault.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 29, 2013 - Marysville, California, U.S. - KATE WEBER was raped one week into a deployment to Germany when she was nineteen. 'I just lost everything. I know he was a repeat offender the moment he touched me. He was able to get away with it because the chain of command allowed it.' She suffers from severe PTSD brought on by Military Sexual Trauma when she was in the US Air Force. She waits for a screening of 'The Invisible War' in Marysville.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 13, 2013 - Washington, DC, U.S - Jessica Hinves, right, was an Air Force fighter jet mechanic when she was raped by a member of her squadron at Lackland Air Force Base. She has a word with military officers after a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill to receive testimony on sexual assaults in the military..20130313 Photograph by Mary F. Calvert
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 30, 2013 - Marysville, California, U.S. - VIRGINIA MESSICK was raped by her drill sergeant at Lackland Air Force Base during basic training. Her rapist was convicted of raping 10 women under his command and is serving a 20 year prison sentence. She holds her old uniform at home.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Nov. 18, 2013 - New York, New York, U.S. - Dr. NANCY LUTWAK, Veteran's Administration emergency room physician, opened up a room just for female vets so they could have a safe place to share their experience of being raped in the military and the health problems they face because of the assaults.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Dec. 7, 2013 - Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S. - Sgt JENNIFER NORRIS was drugged and raped by her recruiter after joining the US Air Force when she was 21 years old. In tech school, she fought off the sexual assault of her instructor and later evaded the advances of her commanders. 'It's like being in a domestic violence marriage that you can't get divorced from,' she said. Norris reported the assaults, rape and harassment and saw her attackers punished but then suffered a sustained campaign of retaliation by her peers at work. Now she suffers with PTSD brought on by Military sexual trauma, also known as MST, and is unable to work. Norris has become an advocate and is the Maine Coordinator for the Military Rape Crisis Center, counseling MST survivors from her home in Rumford, Maine. She sits with her PTSD service dog 'Onyx' at a fellow military rape survivor's home in Biloxi.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Dec. 7, 2013 - Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S. - Military rape survivors JENNIFER NORRIS and JESSICA HINVES, smoke and discuss their assaults late into the night at Jessica's home. Norris was drugged and raped by her recruiter after joining the US Air Force when she was 21 years old. In tech school, she fought off the sexual assault of her instructor and later evaded the advances of her commanders. 'It's like being in a domestic violence marriage that you can't get divorced from,' she said. Norris reported the assaults, rape and harassment and saw her attackers punished but then suffered a sustained campaign of retaliation by her peers at work. Hinves, was an Air Force fighter jet mechanic when she was raped by a member of her squadron at Lackland Air Force Base. The case against her rapist was thrown out the day before the trial was to begin by a commander who said 'Though he didn't act like a gentleman, there was no reason to prosecute.'
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Dec. 9, 2013 - Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S. - HEATHER PICOVITCH was a decorated US Navy recruiter when she was drugged and raped by a male recruiter in her office. She lost her career after reporting the assault and her rapist received a minor reprimand. She lives with her family in Biloxi, Mississippi and struggles to make sense of her traumatic experience and the effect it has had on her life.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 3, 2014 - Spring Hill, Florida, U.S. - CONNIE SUE FOSS was raped while in the US Army. She hasn't been able to hold down a job to care for herself and her daughter.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 4, 2014 - Spring Hill, Florida, U.S. - CONNIE SUE FOSS was raped while in the US Army and hasn't been able to hold down a job to care for herself and her daughter. She bears scars from punching a window during a PTSD episode and holds a molar she lost from grinding her teeth at night.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 6, 2014 - Clermont, Florida, U.S. - SUZIE CHAMPOUX mourns the death of her daughter, Army Sgt. Sophie Champoux who committed suicide under suspicious circumstances after being repeatedly raped while in the US Army. She visits her daughter's grave in Clermont, Florida.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 14, 2014 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. - Senator KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, D-NY is fighting to take military rape cases outside the chain of command. A recent Senate vote for her proposed Military Justice Improvement Act, fell five votes short of passing.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Feb. 28, 2014 - Alliance, Ohio, U.S. - GARY NOLING stands in his daughter Carrie's bedroom on the anniversary of her suicide. Carrie Goodwin suffered severe retaliation after reporting her rape to her US Marine commanders. Five days after she was went home with a bad conduct discharge, she drank herself to death. 'It destroyed my family. When Carrie died I lost all three of my kids and my grandkids. I lost two thirds of me. Two thirds of me is in that box of ashes.'
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Feb. 28, 2014 - Akron, Ohio, U.S. - MEREDITH HILDERMAN was a Korean linguist in the US Marines and a newlywed when she was raped by a fellow Marine. Her master Sergeant told her ''You must have wanted it. You're married and your husband isn't here.'' Out of the military now, she sits in her Akron, Ohio home.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 20, 2014 - Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. - US Army Pfc. (Private First Class) NATASHA SCHUETTE, 21, was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training and subsequently suffered harassment by other drill sergeants after reporting the assault at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is serving just four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees, Natasha suffers daily from PTSD because of the attack. She is now stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. A loner since her assault, she sets up a survival green house in her back yard.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 21, 2014 - Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. - US Army Pfc. NATASHA SCHUETTE, 21, was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training and subsequently suffered harassment by other drill sergeants after reporting the assault at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is serving just four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees, Natasha suffers daily from PTSD because of the attack. She is now stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 31, 2014 - Arlington, Virginia, U.S. - US Army Pfc. NATASHA SCHUETTE, 21, was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training and subsequently suffered harassment by other drill sergeants after reporting the assault at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is serving just four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees, Natasha suffers daily from PTSD because of the attack. Now stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, she received a citation at the Pentagon for reporting the assault.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 21, 2014 - San Diego, California, U.S. - MELISSA BANIA, holds her banner, before hanging it on the foot bridge across from the entrance to Naval Station San Diego. US Navy Military Sexual Trauma survivors got together at Brittany Fintel's San Diego home to make banners inscribed with their sexual assault experiences in the US Navy. That evening, under cover of darkness, they hung them on a foot bridge in front of the entrance to Naval Station San Diego.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 19, 2014 - Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. - US Army Pfc. (Private First Class) NATASHA SCHUETTE, 21, was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training and subsequently suffered harassment by other drill sergeants after reporting the assault at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is serving just four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees, Natasha suffers daily from PTSD because of the attack. Now stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, she attends a civilian counseling session because it is too difficult to get regular counseling appointments in the US Army.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 23, 2013 - Annapolis, MD, U.S - TSgt Jennifer Norris was drugged and raped by her recruiter after joining the US Air Force when she was 21 years old. She testified on Capitol Hill before the sparsely attended House Armed Services Committee hearing to discuss sexual misconduct by basic training instructors at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 23, 2013 - Annapolis, MD, U.S - TSgt Jennifer Norris was drugged and raped by her recruiter after joining the US Air Force when she was 21 years old. Nancy Parrish, President, Protect Our Defenders, comforts her as she breaks down after testifing before the sparsely attended House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, to discuss sexual misconduct by basic training instructors at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 23, 2013 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. - TSgt JENNIFER NORRIS was drugged and raped by her recruiter after joining the US Air Force when she was 21 years old. She breaks down while testifying before the sparsely attended House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, to discuss sexual misconduct by basic training instructors at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
the tip of the American foreign policy spear.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 28, 2013 - Hampton, Virginia, U.S - Jessica Hinves, was an Air Force fighter jet mechanic when she was raped by a member of her squadron at Lackland Air Force Base. The case against her rapist was thrown out the day before the trial was to begin by a commander who said ''Though he didn't act like a gentleman, there was no reason to prosecute.'' She prays with her family before dinner at home in Hampton, Va.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 28, 2013 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. - Jessica Hinves, was an Air Force fighter jet mechanic when she was raped by a member of her squadron at Lackland Air Force Base. The case against her rapist was thrown out the day before the trial was to begin by a commander who said 'Though he didn't act like a gentleman, there was no reason to prosecute.' She holds her baby Marley at her home in Hampton.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 17, 2013 - Washington, D.C, U.S - Tiffany Berkland and Elisha Morrow were sexually harassed by the same company commander when they were in basic training after joining the Coast Guard. Elisha thought about faking a suicide attempt to get away from him; ''he haunts your person by day and your dreams at night.''They did not report the harassment for fear of being kicked out but came forward when they met a third victim. Berkland and Morrow are guilt ridden for not coming forward sooner. They attend a workshop on ''Navigating the VA Military Sexual Trauma Claims Process'' during the Truth and Justice Summit on MST in Washington, D.C.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 18, 2013 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. - Tiffany Berkland and Elisha Morrow were sexually harassed by the same company commander when they were in basic training after joining the Coast Guard. Elisha thought about faking a suicide attempt to get away from him; 'he haunts your person by day and your dreams at night. 'They did not report the harassment for fear of being kicked out but came forward when they met a third victim. Berkland and Morrow are guilt ridden for not coming forward sooner. They sit in their hotel room after attending the Truth and Justice Summit on MST.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 2, 2013 - Rumford, Maine, U.S - TSgt Jennifer Norris was drugged and raped by her recruiter after joining the US Air Force when she was 21 years old. In tech school, she fought off the sexual assault of her instructor and later evaded the advances of her commanders. ''It‰Ûªs like being in a domestic violence marriage that you can't get divorced from,'' she said. Norris reported the assaults, rape and harassment and saw her attackers punished but then suffered a sustained campaign of retaliation by her peers at work. Now she suffers with PTSD brought on by MST and is unable to work. Norris has become an advocate and is the Maine Coordinator for the Military Rape Crisis Center, counseling MST survivors from her home in Rumford, Maine.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 28, 2013 - Santa Rosa, California, U.S. - Kate Weber was raped one week into a deployment to Germany when she was nineteen. 'I just lost everything. I know he was a repeat offender the moment he touched me. He was able to get away with it because the chain of command allowed it. 'She suffers from severe PTSD brought on by Military Sexual Trauma when she was in the US Air Force. Her seven year old son Ryan suffers from secondary PTSD. They talk at in Kate's bedroom of their Rohnert Park home.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 29, 2013 - Marysville, CA, U.S - Virginia Messick was raped by her drill sergeant at Lackland Air Force Base during basic training. Her rapist was convicted of raping 10 women under his command and is serving a 20 year prison sentence. Messick and her husband watch a screening of ''The Invisible War'' at a theatre in Marysville.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Nov. 18, 2013 - Oceanside, California, U.S. - Marines meet women at locals bars outside Camp Pendleton in Oceanside. Drinking culture is strong in the US Armed Forces.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
Dec. 7, 2013 - Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S. - Military rape survivor JESSICA HINVES, meets with fellow military rape survivors in Biloxi, while her son Patrick plays. Jessica Hinves, was an Air Force fighter jet mechanic when she was raped by a member of her squadron at Lackland Air Force Base. The case against her rapist was thrown out the day before the trial was to begin by a commander who said 'Though he didn't act like a gentleman, there was no reason to prosecute.'
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 4, 2014 - Spring Hill, Florida, U.S. - CONNIE SUE FOSS was raped while in the US Army. She hasn't been able to hold down a job to care for herself and her daughter.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 5, 2014 - Clermont, Florida, U.S. - Suzie Champoux mourns the death of her daughter, Army Sgt. Sophie Champoux who committed suicide under suspicious circumstances after being repeatedly raped while in the US Army.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Jan. 5, 2014 - Clermont, Florida, U.S. - SUZIE CHAMPOUX mourns the death of her daughter, Army Sgt. Sophie Champoux who committed suicide under suspicious circumstances after being repeatedly raped while in the US Army. Suzie places a picture of her daughter in a display case at her local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter in Clermont.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 20, 2014 - Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. - US Army Pfc. Natasha Schuette, 21, was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training and subsequently suffered harassment by other drill sergeants after reporting the assault at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is serving just four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees, Natasha suffers daily from PTSD because of the attack. She is now stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 20, 2014 - Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. - The bedside bookshelf with medicine and machine gun of US Army Pfc. Natasha Schuette, 21, who was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training and subsequently suffered harassment by other drill sergeants after reporting the assault at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is serving just four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees, Natasha suffers daily from PTSD because of the attack. She is now stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. she sleeps with a gun, machete and two knives next to her bed.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 18, 2014 - San Diego, California, U.S. - Brittany Fintel served in the US Navy, she was grabbed and pinned down on a bed by her Lead Petty Officer while she was stationed in Bahrain on the USS Gridley. Another sailor witnessed the attack but turned and left as she screamed and fought off her attacker. She reported the attack and was told she had an ''adjustment disorder'', taken off the ship and eventually was separated from the navy due to PTSD. She joined the military to see the world and get her college paid for, but her experience in the Navy shattered all her sense of trust. 'They kick the victim out. The victim is more fucked up in the head than apparently the rapist,' she said, weeping on her couch at home in San Diego. Her PTSD service dog 'Indiana' is never far from her side.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 19, 2014 - San Diego, California, U.S. - US Navy Military Sexual Trauma survivors got together at Brittany Fintel's San Diego, California home to make banners inscribed with their sexual assault experiences in the US Navy. The next evening they hung them on a foot bridge in front of the entrance to Naval Station San Diego.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
April 19, 2014 - San Diego, California, U.S. - Brianna Roepke, Brittany Fintel and Melissa Bania sit with their PTSD service dogs at Brittany's home in San Diego, California. Brittany got MST survivors from her support group together to make banners inscribed with their sexual assault experiences in the US Navy. The next evening they hung them on a foot bridge in front of the entrance to Naval Station San Diego.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
May 19, 2014 - Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S. - US Army Pfc. (Private First Class) Natasha Schuette, 21, was sexually assaulted by her drill sergeant during basic training and subsequently suffered harassment by other drill sergeants after reporting the assault at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. While Staff Sgt. Louis Corral is serving just four years in prison for assaulting her and four other female trainees, Natasha suffers daily from PTSD because of the attack. Now stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, she attends a civilian counseling session because it is too difficult to get regular counseling appointments in the US Army.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
Feb 28, 2014 - Alliance, Ohio, U.S. - GARY NOLING holds his daughter Carrie's journal on the anniversary of her suicide. Carrie Goodwin suffered severe retaliation after reporting her rape to her US Marine commanders. Five days after she was went home with a bad conduct discharge, she drank herself to death. 'It destroyed my family. When Carrie died i lost all three of my kids and my grandkids. I lost two thirds of me. Two thirds of me is in that box of ashes.' He did not know she had been raped until after her death.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press/ZUMAPRESS.com
Dec 7, 2013 - Biloxi, Mississippi, U.S. - HEATHER PICOVITCH was a decorated US Navy recruiter when she was drugged and raped by a male recruiter in her office. She lost her career after reporting the assault and her rapist received a minor reprimand. She lives with her family in Biloxi, Mississippi and struggles to make sense of her traumatic experience and the effect it has had on her life.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press/Mary F. Calvert
Apr 18, 2013 - Washington, D.C., U.S. - ELISHA MORROW and TIFFANY BERKLAND were sexually harassed by the same company commander when they were in basic training after joining the Coast Guard. Elisha thought about faking a suicide attempt to get away from him; ''he haunts your person by day and your dreams at night. ''They did not report the harassment for fear of being kicked out but came forward when they met a third victim. When their case went to trial, they met a fourth young woman who had been raped recently by the same company commander. Berkland and Morrow are guilt ridden for not coming forward sooner. They sit in their hotel room after attending the Truth and Justice Summit on MST.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
May 29, 2013 - Marysville, District of Columbia, U.S. - VIRGINIA MESSICK was raped by her drill sergeant at Lackland Air Force Base during basic training. Her rapist was convicted of raping 10 women under his command and while serving a 20 year prison sentence, committed suicide. Messick and her husband watch a screening of 'The Invisible War' at a theatre.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
Jan 23, 2013 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. - TSgt JENNIFER NORRIS was drugged and raped by her recruiter after joining the US Air Force when she was 21 years old. She testified on Capitol Hill before the sparsely attended House Armed Services Committee hearing to discuss sexual misconduct by basic training instructors at Lackland Air Force Base.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
Jan 23, 2013 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. - TSgt JENNIFER NORRIS was drugged and raped by her recruiter after joining the US Air Force when she was 21 years old. Nancy Parrish, President, Protect Our Defenders, comforts her as she breaks down after testifying before the sparsely attended House Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill, to discuss sexual misconduct by basic training instructors at Lackland Air Force Base.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
Mar 13, 2013 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. - Military lawyers from the US Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard are grilled by lawmakers during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill to discuss sexual assaults in the US Armed Forces.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press
Apr 18, 2013 - Washington, District of Columbia, U.S. - ELISHA MORROW and TIFFANY BERKLAND were sexually harassed by the same company commander when they were in basic training after joining the Coast Guard. Elisha thought about faking a suicide attempt to get away from him; 'he haunts your person by day and your dreams at night.' They did not report the harassment for fear of being kicked out but came forward when they met a third victim. When their case went to trial, they met a fourth young woman who had been raped recently by the same company commander. Berkland and Morrow are guilt ridden for not coming forward sooner. They sit in their hotel room after attending the Truth and Justice Summit on MST.
© Mary F. Calvert/zReportage.com via ZUMA Press/ZUMAPRESS.com
