In 2016 I was a part of my good friend’s sexual assault court martial. This is where she had to go on stand and tell a group of people she didn’t know, that a SNCO we worked with raped her during duty at gunpoint one night.

You should know that she was the kindest person I had ever met in my entire life. Really soft spoken, volunteered at church and soup kitchens (I swear to god I can’t make this up), always would stayed calm and empathetic and often times struggled with caring TOO much

She was extremely pretty and did fitness competitions and always treated everybody kindly. She was stellar at everything and when the court martial started I had no doubt in my mind that she was going to get her justice. She had an abundance of proof and all of us on her side.

I didn’t know I was going to witness her character assassination. I watched the kindest person I knew ripped apart by people who asked her why she smiled so much, why she was so flirtatious, why she had gotten a divorce. I watched them make her an unreliable slut for four days.

She lost the court martial. He was charged with having sex on duty and allowed to finish out his contract even though there were FOUR other girls with that same story from different parts in his career that testified.

She’s happy now. Married and out of the Marine Corps living in Hawaii. I think about her often and how brave she was and how when she addressed the court for the last time she told them “I know the truth and I know you do too.”

This is exactly why I never testified. I didn’t have nearly as much proof- I’m loud, I love sex, I smile at marines too often and I come on strong. I would have never stood a fucking chance. Stop asking girls why they don’t come forward. It’s not fair.

Just in case y’all thought I was joking