Armed Forces face sexual harassment allegations – 07/10/2023 – Politics

A bite on the neck in a battalion financial sector room. A drunken soldier in his underwear who invades a sergeant’s room in the barracks and invites her to sleep with him. A malicious shifting of an identification tag in order to touch an officer’s breasts.

A set of isolated cases gathered by the Sheet shows how the Armed Forces have faced, in recent years, a sequence of accusations of harassment and sexual harassment within units spread across the country, involving soldiers and officers.

Data from the STM (Superior Military Court) show that 56 criminal actions on the subject were opened as of 2018. Since last year, there have been 29 complaints, the equivalent of 3 every 2 months. This count does not include ongoing investigations in military units or episodes kept secret by the victims.

For the most part, these are female soldiers who are victims of embarrassment and disrespect in battalions by colleagues in the barracks. They report from inappropriate singing and unauthorized affection to direct physical attacks in closed environments, without witnesses.

A Sheet had access to information on 44 of these processes, which show the psychological impact on victims who provide services to the Armed Forces. They also point to failures and revictimization throughout internal investigations, through questions about the complainant’s behavior instead of verifying the reported facts.

One of the complainants was Tamires (fictitious name), a temporary sergeant at an Army warehouse. She reported being attacked three times by Lieutenant Fábio de Andrade Fontes in 2016 and 2017.

In the first, she says she received a bite on the back of her neck while checking the unit’s financial system. Months later, he would have grabbed her from behind touching private parts. In the last attack, according to her account, she was forcibly kissed.

Tamires says that the fear imposed by the rigid military hierarchy and the macho environment of the barracks made her not immediately report the harassment. Years later, she considers that the reasons for her fear were proven.

“I reported this fact informally to a superior, I vented to her. When I arrived the next day, she had reported it to the commanders. That was the beginning of a real hell in my life. “, says the former soldier.

She claims that, after that, she became the target of constant veiled and explicit punishments. Driven away by the psychological trauma caused by the harassment, she said that the embarrassment even invaded her home.

“From the moment I was removed, not a week went by without them sending a car from the barracks with armed soldiers, in uniform, embarrassing me at the door of my house. My neighbors at that time must have assumed that I had stolen or killed barracks. They even stopped a van in front of my house with eight soldiers.”

After two years of proceedings, the soldier was sentenced to a year and a half in detention thanks to the messages used as evidence, in which he demanded that the sergeant kiss him. In the course of the investigation, he received an Army Medal.

For Tamires, the sentence of the Military Justice was not enough. The fact that the accused maintained his military career while she had her contract interrupted, made family and friends suspicious of her versions of events.

“In a way I was demoralized before my family, friends and neighbors. Because the guy is convicted, but his life is normal and I was the one who was dismissed. What do people think? ‘Oh, she must have done something wrong ‘”, account.

In February of this year, the lieutenant was the subject of a representation by the Military Public Ministry for the loss of his officer rank. The case is under analysis by the STM. Sought through his lawyer, he did not take a position on the case.

Prosecutor Najla Nassif Palma, Ombudsman for Women at the Military Public Prosecutor’s Office, says that the increase in complaints is due to the awareness of the women in the barracks and more confidence in the seriousness of the investigation. She has been invited to speak at military units on the topic.

“It’s about establishing the victim’s trust so that they can actually feel comfortable taking it forward. That’s why the numbers are increasing. Is more happening than in the past? My perception is that no. I think that in the past there was a hidden reality that didn’t come to light”, says the prosecutor.

The Army, Navy and Air Force stated in notes that they repudiated the practice of harassment and said they were investigating any reported criminal conduct.

The three Forces, however, did not say whether they applied disciplinary punishments to the 23 military personnel identified by the report as the target of complaints for harassment or sexual harassment. Of these, 11 have already been convicted at least in the first instance, of which 7 with a final sentence.

Part of the proceedings, however, is confidential, which is why the identity of the accused is unknown.

By law, a soldier sentenced to sentences exceeding two years can be automatically expelled, in the case of enlistment, or the target of a representation for indignity in the case of an officer for loss of office.

However, the maximum penalty for sexual harassment is only two years. Considering that most of the accused are first-time offenders, convictions tend to fall below that threshold. Sexual harassment, in effect since 2018, is punishable by up to five years.

Forces repudiate wrongdoing; Navy releases balance of punishments

The Navy stated, in a note, that “it works to prevent and combat conduct that is offensive to the person and discrimination based on sex.” He also stated “that the issue is dealt with in all hierarchical circles, covering all stages of personnel training, from military education”.

The maritime force was the only one to publish a balance of disciplinary punishments due to harassment or sexual harassment.

According to the corporation, 16 IPMs (military police inquiries) were initiated, of which 6 were archived because the crime was not proven. Four ended with punishment (3 with simple imprisonment and 1 with reprimand) and the others are awaiting analysis by the Justice.

The Army said, in a note, that “it does not condone any type of irregularity eventually practiced by its members, vehemently repudiating any acts that discredit ethics and morals, which should guide the conduct of every soldier”.

The Brazilian Air Force said that it investigates all the complaints it receives and punishes proven cases. “The Air Force Command reiterates that it repudiates conduct contrary to regulations that do not represent the values, dedication and work of the staff in favor of fulfilling its institutional mission.”