Abstract
To date, minimal research has examined the media’s portrayal of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the military and its aftermath. Sexual harassment and assault cases are often unreported in the military, influenced by fear of retaliation from the chain of command and lack of support within the organization. The disappearance and death of U.S. Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen, a soldier stationed at Fort Hood, in 2020 received national news media coverage, and survivors of military sexual harm received global support through social media activism. In this study, the researcher conducted a qualitative document analysis of 172 newspaper articles about Vanessa Guillen collected from ProQuest Global Newsstream over a two-year period. Three research questions guided this analysis—1) How did the news media portray the military handling of sexual assault and sexual harassment? 2) How did the media portray activism in the aftermath of Vanessa Guillen’s death?, and 3) How did Vanessa Guillen’s death lead to military reform, if at all? According to the news media, the military organization clearly mishandled the sexual harassment reports and disappearance of Vanessa Guillen on base. Further, the news media revealed that both in-person and online activism occurred after Guillen’s disappearance, and that military reform was needed at both Fort Hood and the military broadly. Although the death of Vanessa Guillen started important conversations regarding military policies surrounding sexual harassment and assault, more progress needs to happen in the military to protect women from sexual violence.