We have posted in the past about the heroic and pioneering US Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer Sara Faulkner. She was the first of only a handful of women who have qualified and served as rescue swimmers. Faulkner joined the Coast Guard intent upon becoming a rescue swimmer, so she knew that she would be called upon to serve in the most extreme rescue situations. What she didn’t anticipate was almost two decades of sexual harassment and assault.
The Miami Herald reports that “once sent to do the job she loved, rescuing people from helicopter drops, Faulkner said she endured groping, licking, butt smacking, leering and crude sexual innuendos meant to humiliate her in front of colleagues.”
Now retired, Faulkner is speaking out against the abuse and being retaliated against for reporting the abuse. In the video below, Faulkner describes in her own words the harassment and abuse that she suffered.
Coast Guard rescue swimmer Sara Faulkner tells of sexual harassment
Sadly, it appears that Sara Faulkner’s experience is not unique. The Coast Guard denies systemic harassment but two recent reports paint a different picture. A report from this December, issued by the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight Committee was titled, Righting the Ship — The Coast Guard Must Improve its Processes for Addressing Harassment, Bullying, and Retaliation. The report criticized Coast Guard leaders for failing to investigate hazing and bullying at the Coast Guard Academy and suggested the problem affects rank-and-file service members. The report notes that “In July 2019, 45 percent of female cadets reported that they had experienced sexual harassment.”
The Coast Guard hired the Rand Corporation to investigate why retention rates among women were lower than men in the service. The report, issued in April 2019, cited fears of sexual assault and harassment, especially in “units with only one or two women assigned and units in remote, isolated environments.“
It also cited “perceptions that bad leaders are retained and even promoted; that male leaders are reluctant to mentor women; and that leaders were unaware of Coast Guard policies” affecting women.
A state of arrested development, in individuals and then the organization.
Exactly what level of effort is required to keep the yap shut and the hands to one’s self? Less effort than the opposite. Simple physics. Do the math.
Inexcusable. 16 years of it and no action, no support. Hold your head up high Sara, let us hope the perpetrators are named and shamed.
No organization in the world discriminates, bullys, or harasses more than the military and its members.
@Bill you forgot the police
No date on this article, but Sara Faulkner mentioned:
Not all survived.
Badass Women in the Coast Guard
https://www.military.com/history/badass-women-coast-guard
I am so repulsed by what the “good old boy system” did to you. I wonder how did they treat their mother, wife or daughter. Shame on them. I have 2 sons, 1 daughter that were in the military, 1 son a CG rescue swimmer and they respect their fellow man and women. Be proud of what you accomplished. It cost you alot, but you broke the barrier and proved them wrong. Stay strong.
I was in for 4 years and was considering a career. But I bailed at 4 because of the verbal and physical abuse. I’d hoped that things had gotten better but apparently not. If someone asks if I’m a vet, I say no. Too ashamed. And that’s sad.