U.S. veterans sue Pentagon 'after they were raped and sexually abused by comrades'

One commander allegedly told Army reservist she 'did not struggle enough or act like a rape victim'

Another woman 'was told marines don't cry' and 'to suck it up'

Fourteen U.S. veterans who say they were raped and abused by their comrades today accused the Pentagon of ignoring their claims.



More than a dozen female and two male current or former service members will launch a legal action today, claiming that servicemen get away with rape and other sexual abuse.

One woman claimed that two male colleagues raped her in Iraq and videotaped the attack, circulating it around the base.

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Threatened: Kori Cioca, 25, speaks about how she was raped and physically abused while serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, and told if she pursued allegations she would be court marshalled for lying

She was bruised from her shoulders to her elbows from being held down but charges were not filed as the commander said she 'did not struggle enough or act like a rape victim'.

Victims have also claimed that they are often ordered to serve alongside those they say attacked them.

So incensed are some of the victims about the way complaints were handled that several women have waived their anonymity to speak out

Veterans: Kori Cioca and Panayiota Bertzikis both say they were assaulted and raped while serving in the army and that their claims were dismissed

In a federal class-action lawsuit to be filed today, they want an objective third party to handle such complaints because individual commanders have too much say in how allegations are handled.

The alleged attackers in the lawsuit include an Army criminal investigator and an Army National Guard commander. The abuse alleged ranges from obscene verbal abuse to gang rape.

It also specifically names Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld who they say both failed to take aggressive measures to protect women.



Ordeal: Panayiota Bertzikis, 29, has become executive director of the Military Rape Crisis Centre after she was sexually assaulted and then called a whore by other comrades

In 2009, there were 3,200 sexual assaults reported in the military with fewer than a quarter of those prosecuted, many for lesser charges.

In fact statistics show it is more likely for a woman to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.



Panayiota Bertzikis, who is a plaintiff in the lawsuit and claims she was raped in 2006, said: 'The problem of rape in the military is not only service members getting raped, but it's the entire way that the military as a whole is dealing with it.

'From survivors having to be involuntarily discharged from service, the constant verbal abuse, once a survivor does come forward your entire unit is known to turn their back on you. The entire culture needs to be changed.'

The 29-year-old, of Somerville, Massachusetts, is now executive director of the Military Rape Crisis Centre.



She says she was raped by a Coast Guard shipmate while out on a social hike with him in Burlington.

She complained to her commanding officer, but she said authorities did not take substantial steps to investigate the matter but instead forced her to live on the same floor as the man she had accused while others called her a 'liar' and 'whore'.

In many of the described cases, no charges were filed. In other cases, the alleged attackers faced lesser charges and were allowed to remain in the military, according to the lawsuit.

Kori Cioca, 25, of Wilmington, Ohio, described being hit in the face by a superior in one incident in 2005 and being raped by the same man in a second incident soon after.

Even though the man confessed to having sex with her, Cioca said in the lawsuit she was told if she pressed forward with reporting the sex as a rape, she would be court-martialed for lying.

Traumatised: Sarah Albertson grew depressed and gained 30 pounds after she was raped by an army official, told to 'suck it up' and continue respecting him



She said the man pleaded guilty only to hitting her and his punishment was a minor loss of pay and being forced to stay on the base for 30 days. She said she was discharged from the military for a 'history of inappropriate relationships'.

She continues to suffer from numbness in her jaw and nightmares.

She said: 'My body hurts every day. My face hurts. I get the most horrible headaches. My body has been trespassed. The honour that I had was stripped from me.



'I'm no longer proud of myself. People tell me thank you for your service, but my service wasn't what it was supposed to be.'



Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith said the military had already planned to roll out a new hotline victims can call in April.



It has another initiative that encourages service members to help those who are assaulted or raped.



In 2005, the military created an office charged with preventing sexual assault. Victims can opt to file a 'restricted' or confidential report that allows them to get medical attention without an investigation being triggered.

She said: 'We are aggressively doing everything we can because one sexual assault is too many.'

Lawsuit: Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, right, and the former secretary Donald Rumsfeld are accused of failing to take measures to protect women



Robert Gates has also come out and said he has been pressing the armed forces to make this a priority.



Sarah Albertson claims she was partying at the army barracks one night when a superior officer climbed into her bed and forced himself on her.

When she reported it she was told she had to continue working in the same office as him and told to 'suck it up' and 'treat him with the respect he deserved'.

Choking back tears she recalls: 'I was told marines don't cry and that I had to suck it up and continue working alongside him.'

Becoming depressed, Miss Albertson gained 30 pounds and was forced to go through a weigh-loss programme, under the accused officer.

She said: 'He was assigned to my case, and I had to go and report to him about my body.'

Anuradha Bhagwati, 35, executive director of the Service Women's Action Network, said the Defense Department's own statistics show that fewer than one in five of these cases are even referred for court martial.



She said unit commanders are the judge and the jury in these types of cases. Too often, she said, perpetrators are given non-judicial punishments.

She said: 'A lawsuit like this is needed because change cannot happen on the inside. The Department of Defense has had literally decades, perhaps more, to change the culture within the military.



'They've proven that they can't, and even the minor changes they've made the last few years are so superficial.'

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