Courage to Resist Newsletter Aug 10, 2023 Support Veteran Seaman Annette “Lavender” GundersonEnd Recruitment Abuse and Military Sexual Trauma!Courage to Resist is raising $3,000 to assist Annette “Lavender” Gunderson with a discharge upgrade from the Board of Corrections of Naval Records (BCNR). In addition to legal fees, we'll be providing counsel as she tells her story to Congress and the media.Donate to Annette's Support Fund Recruiter abuse is real and it is widespread. It often goes unreported, but when it is reported, the end result is often a slap on the wrist for the perpetrator and little reflection by the system on why recruiter abuse continues to keep happening over and over again. And of course, the victims are forgotten and ignored. Annette was a 17-year-old who dreamed of being in the Navy. Unfortunately, her recruiter violated his leadership position and committed statutory rape. He continued to abuse and manipulate her, even attempting to blackmail her into silence, so this brave recruit reported the crimes, and did so as an “unrestricted reporter,” meaning that the allegation was known by her future command when she shipped out to boot camp. Due to her having made an unrestricted report of sexual assault by her recruiter, she was targeted for abusive treatment by her command and she eventually reached a mental breaking point. She was then forcibly hospitalized and mistreated in that medical facility. Despite what she was going through, she was able to successfully testify against her old recruiter (ensuring his eventual guilty plea and conviction), but was also coerced into accepting a lesser discharge from the Navy, which meant that she had no access to counseling, legal or any other kind of transitional support when she returned back to civilian life. She has since worked hard to heal herself, but she has had to fight her debilitating disability largely on her own. Due to the circumstances of her case (as the only known survivor of recruiter abuse, who made an unrestricted report of the abuse prior to shipping out to boot camp), Annette “Lavender” Gunderson has a unique opportunity to fight back and to ensure that what happened to her, doesn’t happen to anyone else. Learn more at couragetoresist.org/gunderson
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COURAGE TO RESIST
SUPPORT THE TROOPS WHO REFUSE TO FIGHT!
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