Senator McSally reveals she was raped while serving in Air Force
Senator Martha McSally said she was raped by a superior officer when she served in the Air Force. The Arizona Republican, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, said she didn’t report instances of sexual assault while in the military because she, like others, didn’t trust the system for de
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(Bloomberg) — Senator Martha McSally said she was raped by a superior officer when she served in the Air Force.
The Arizona Republican, the first female fighter pilot to fly in combat, said she didn’t report instances of sexual assault while in the military because she, like others, didn’t trust the system for dealing with such incidents in the armed forces. She made the revelation at a hearing Wednesday on the military’s response to sexual assault reports.
“I thought I was strong but felt powerless. The perpetrators abused their position of power in profound ways,” McSally, 52, said. “In one case I was preyed upon and raped by a superior officer.”
She considered quitting the Air Force but decided to stay. She said she shares the disgust over the military’s failures to protect those who’ve been sexually assaulted. “Like many victims, I felt the system was raping me all over again,” she said, tearing up. But she said the system has gotten better in part because service members are speaking up about their experiences.
Her revelation follows the disclosure by her fellow Republican senator, Iowa’s Joni Ernst, that she was raped in college by someone she knew and that her ex-husband physically abused her. Ernst also is a veteran.
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven T. Dennis in Washington at sdennis17@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kevin Whitelaw at kwhitelaw@bloomberg.net, Joe Sobczyk
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