Victims of sexual assault and harassment in the Coast Guard call for major changes after Senate committee’s new report

(CNN) — Five former and current members of the US Coast Guard testified before a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday about their experiences with sexual assault and harassment while serving and called for major changes to how the Coast Guard handles reports.

After months of investigation across both chambers, the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s subcommittee on investigations released a 48-page majority staff report on Wednesday, detailing the decades of abuse and cover-ups. It’s the first to be released out of a string of ongoing government inquiries triggered by CNN’s reporting on a secret Coast Guard probe into sexual abuse at its prestigious Coast Guard Academy. That investigation, dubbed Operation Fouled Anchor, was kept secret from the public and even Congress despite substantiating dozens of past assaults.

Meghan Lori Klement, a former Seaman, told the committee Thursday that she had felt like she was in a “nightmare” after she was harassed and assaulted for months by a retired senior chief who was contracted to her base.

Klement noted that she was pulled aside and told to “think about the life and career” of the perpetrator. “I was a young girl, and I was really scared,” she said. “When he said those words to me, I lost all hope, felt ashamed and embarrassed. I felt completely discredited, and that has followed me around for 11 years.”

She said a turning point was when someone with a higher rank finally committed to supporting her. “When I realized that I had somebody who held some sort of rank and position standing behind me, that is when I became really brave,” Klement said. “There’s a lot of power in that.”

Klement also said that she has not been given access to the documents around her own case, while she was active duty or afterward. “We’ll see if I ever get (them) back,” she said.

Julian Bell, a Chief Warrant Officer 4, too said he received “absolutely nothing” about his own case, and that his requests through the Freedom of Information Act have been denied.

Crystal Van Den Heuvel, a Yeoman Petty Officer First Class, recounted how a man she worked with told her that he had thought about stealing her underwear on multiple occasions, and that while she was in a car with him, he kept trying to reach into her bag and saying he wanted to smell her underwear. Van Den Heuvel said the man did not stop until she threatened to leave him on the side of the road and have his wife pick him up.

During the hearing, Van Den Heuvel pushed for the idea that command should not be able to evaluate victims for a year after they come forward about assault, so that they don’t face retaliation. Instead, Van Den Heuvel said that victims need an outside agency to evaluate their cases “so that there is no conflict of interest” within command. Several other witnesses agreed, as Van Den Heuvel noted that commanding officers often are friendly with each other, and even went to the Coast Guard Academy together.

Shawna Christine Ward, a retired Chief Warrant Officer 4, was one of the witnesses who said that there should be a third party to evaluate victim statements and investigations.

“It’s the exact same story, and the Coast Guard is just saying, ‘It’s OK.’ I’m tired of the words,” Ward said. “I’m tired of the word ‘commitment.’ There is no commitment. Words are not enough to fix it. Action actually has to be taken in order to do it.”

In closing, Ward told the committee, “I loved the Coast Guard. I still do. But there is a certain part of the Coast Guard that is completely broken.”

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