I was being held down by two individuals. And someone was pulling my pants down, and i was raped, sodomized. And that brave man in the video is here with us in the studio today with his partner and his wife, Michael Matthews and Geri Lynn Matthews. It is so good to see you in person. Thank you so much for being here. Nice to see you, cheryl. All the way from albuquerque, new mexico . Yes. We met each other first by satellite about three years ago as i recall. Yes, yes. Right when you were beginning your documentary, justice denied. So, michael, i want to start with you. Why did you decide to go public . This is a tough subject. Its hard enough for women. I cant even imagine what its like for a man. I had gone [sighs] i when i was raped, it was in 1974, and i never just saying that, just saying that out loud so matteroffactly, youre kind of, like, processing it still . Well, i never told anybody for 20 years. Oh. So, i went through a lot of therapy to get to that point, and i tried to commit suicide seven times. And after one of my suicide attempts, they took me to the v. A. , and i, you know, was talking with a counselor, and, finally, she said, well, you know, she this depression i had that was clinical depression, she said, you want to tell me about your rape now . I broke down and told her, you know, and finally told my wife, and, uh. We talked about it. My wifes a social worker, of course, so we talked about it, and she said, you know, maybe theres something you should do with, you know, this because, you know, god, your higher power, obviously has other plans for you. You know, they were pretty good suicide attempts, and youre still here. Actually, when he told me, i i was surprised, but in a sense, i was relieved because i felt, im not crazy. There really was something troubling him, something serious. And at that point, i knew the most important thing was to to get help, and i thought, thats the beginning step, is to tell someone, to take that first step, and so thats what we try to encourage people to do. A lot of men have problems, you know, thinking about people are gonna challenge their sexuality, and this is not about sexuality. This is, you know. Most of the rapists in the military, 98 of them are are heterosexuals, okay . So, its not its not about sex, and its not about gender. All right, its its its about someone with power and control as we all know. They didnt tell anybody cause it was 1974. You know, i was born and raised in new york, and i just, you know, can put the pieces together that, you know, if i came forward and said anything, they were gonna, you know, give me a bus ticket home, obviously, you know, give me a quick discharge and get me out of there. So, i i wanted to spend i wanted to stay at career in the military, so thats way. And you had a career in the military . Yes, i retired from the air force. I think the film was a way to show other. Survivors, male and female, that its a safe thing to do to come forward at least to one person that you trust. Okay. And thats the beginning step. Okay, thats the first. All right, we have to take a break. We have a lot more to talk about. So, were gonna be back with michael and Geri Lynn Matthews, talking about military rape, their new documentary, justice denied, in just a moment. Men in the military do not get raped in fact, they do. Welcome back to beyond the headlines. We are here with Geri Lynn Matthews and Michael Matthews, talking about a very difficult subject rape in the military and michael is a survivor. And, michael, i know that because you and geri lynn have worked on this for so many years now, dealing with it for so many years with your documentary and just staying involved, you have some numbers in your head about just how bad this problem is in the military. Well, you know, we have roughly the numbers of veterans Walking Around in our Community Six million veterans have been raped male veterans have been raped. And the percentage of suicides theres 22 a day, veterans killing themselves right now. And the percentage of those is, only 12 of those are actually combatrelated. Roughly, about 2. 5 , so, wheres the other 80 , you know, 80something coming from . And and the apa tells us that a man who is raped and does not try to get help for it, get counseling, will try to commit suicide at least twice in their life. Thats 90 of them. Now, tell me what the apa is, please . Oh, American Psychiatric association. Mm, yeah. The apa did another study on it, the American Psychiatric association, that came out just recently, and they said its 15 times more so. If you do the numbers, its between 180,000 and 210,000 a year. Thats horrifying. I mean theres more men raped in the in the military. Than in federal prisons. Thats according to dods numbers and, you know, comparing them to do the justice departments figures. So, what do we do, geri lynn . How do we fix this . How do we i mean, i know that a lot of the legislators and youve met with them cause we have pictures of you. Mmhmm. Seeing him talking to Jackie Speier congresswomen Jackie Speier here is is really instrumental in leading this fight, but youre in the trenches. Youre youre living this. What do we do . [ sighing ] what do we do . Well, um, we keep the conversation going. By sharing with people about the topic. A lot of people still dont realize that this occurs in the military. They dont want to believe it. They dont want to believe it. Theyre shocked. Theyre still making it a gender issue. Theyre still making it an issue of sexual preference. Theyre not realizing that this is about a humanrights issue, and its not about male. Its not about female. And so, what were trying to do is educate people, educate the civilian world, as well, because when a rapist leaves the military, they go back into the civilian population, and then the heinous crimes continue. So, the main thing is to so, why now . Is that because the outside world, it doesnt prosecute. Right now, its prosecuted in the military, right . No, its not. Thats the problem. The problem is, you see theres not a lot of so, the general public doesnt know . Theres not a lot of rapists in the military. The percentage of rapists are small, but the fact is, an average rapist, according to the American Psychiatric association, performs 300 to 600 rapes in their lifetime. Theyre serial rapists. 90 of them are serial rapists. So, the people who were prosecuted in the military, that information doesnt get out to the general public . No, theyre not prosecuted. This is the problem. Its up to the commanders. Right. It goes to you see, they have a funny judicial system. You know, it goes to the commander, and the commander determines whether it was rape or not, who is not qualified to make that decision. They need to take this particular crime and Violent Crimes against servicemembers out of the hands of the commanders. We thank the california legislators for for supporting us and for getting the word out and continuing to do so. I think the most important thing is to continue to speak with people like you that are so gracious to give us this time and also to educate people about the benefits of coming forward and not keeping a secret. That poisons you from the inside out. Thats one of the most important things. Well, you guys are a delightful couple. We were talking on the break, and you have great senses of humor, and you need to have that to get through Something Like this, right . Mmhmm. Final thoughts, michael, before we wrap up . Were almost out of time. Well, you know, the thing i would like to get out there is, we need a the reason we made the movie was to publicize this, and we need the backing of our, you know, communities to call everyone to call your your congress and senate and complain. I mean, they theyre not acting on it. Our governments broken, but the way to fix it is by, you know, complaining. All right. Geri lynn, final thoughts on you . [ sighs ] im very much solutionfocused. And so, my feeling is create a sense of hope by letting people know that. There are people that care, not just us. There are a lot of other advocates in this realm that are there to, you know, give you a lifeline, to help support you so that you can get the healing that you deserve and that you need, and thats the most important thing. Thats the beginning. When we come back, youll meet another veteran who was sexually assaulted in the military who got the help he needed, and youll meet some of the key people leading the way and offering help and resources for survivors. Were talking about military sexual trauma, or mst for short. Joining us in the studio right now are three guests. Heath phillips is an mst survivor and Advisory Board member for protect our defenders. Nancy parrish is the founder of protect our defenders. Its a Humanrights Organization which fights to help veterans who have been sexually assaulted. And colonel Don Christensen is the new president of protect our defenders. I want to thank you all for being here. This is a story that weve been following and working on for a long time. Its really hard to get attention on this subject, and, heath, something terrible happened to you when you were just a young man in the military. So so, tell me. Let me start with you. Um. I joined the military at 17. Um, boot camp and everything was everything that you were told it is. Once i boarded my ship, thats when the nightmare began. I was sexually assaulted by six fellow shipmates. My command chose to ignore me instead of help me out. I. Tried suicide. I tried running away. I went awol. With the help of my parents, we did a congressional investigation. But. Something that most people dont understand. When youre not on base, its different, but once youre back on your base, thats the law. Youre going back to where your attackers were . Yes, maam. Yeah. What happened to you . Um. How did it affect you . [ sighs ] i was. A drunk for many, many years. You know, i did things wrong in life that im not proud of. If it was not for Nancy Parrish and protect our defenders, i honestly dont know where id be today. Nancy, i want to talk to you about even the need for coming up with an organization, protect our defenders its even hard to to think that we have to do that. It is. You know, the military has a rape problem. Uh. Sexualassault rates for activeduty males is 100 greater and for activeduty females, 50 greater than their civilian counterparts in the reserves. Its an epidemic. And our our mission, really, is to change the culture of misogyny and victim blaming, denial of male rape. And to do this, you have to fix the ineffective and dysfunctional Justice System. So, we coalesced a community of survivors and their families to advocate for change, and we provide free legal help to for activeduty members, veterans, and civilians. We educate the public, and we push for muchneeded policy reform. Its an incredible amount of work, and just, colonel christensen, youve taken on this role. You were the chief prosecutor in the air force, and you also wound up defending people at one point in your career, so youve seen all sides of this issue. How how does this happen, and how do we change it . Well, the biggest problem we have is, we have a Justice System thats archaic and is a commandcentered Justice System. In other words, instead of having a professional Prosecutors Office determine whether a case should go to trial or not or what should happen when somebody attacks somebody like keith, we have commanders who know the accused, are gonna know the people who have committed the crime, and oftentimes know the survivor of the Sexual Assault, and so, based upon their biases, all too often, we see justice denied to those people who are are victims of Sexual Assault. And so, to fix it, the first thing we need to do is is get legislation passed to change our system so that we have independent, professional military prosecutors who are trained in the very difficult job of prosecuting Sexual Assault make these decisions instead of commanders. Im an army brat, and i know that my late father wouldve been appalled by all of this. Youre talking about changing the whole mindset because chain of command in the military is everything. But when somebodys assaulted, they cant just go to the police like any other victim. Right. What were looking for is for our brave men and women who who protect this country to have a Justice System as good as the one that they protect and defend when they go overseas. And then to accomplish that, we need to have a process where we have professional a military justice that is run by prosecutors and that we have a police force that is there to properly investigate these crimes, just like the great people in san francisco. When they have a crime, they go to their local Police Agency. That Police Agency investigates, and then the District Attorney makes a decision whether or not a case should go forward. Were not asking that our military members have anything more, just something as good as what theyd have in the civilian world. The world that they protect. The world they protect. Yeah. Nancy, is this possible . I know that congress is trying hard to do something about this. Well, it is possible. In fact, we we have we have a bipartisan majority in the senate, and and weve made some significant progress. But with the coalition of the Survivor Community and humanrights attorneys and through our probono work, we you know, we know that we can fix this, but we also believe that the president must show leadership as he has with civilian criminaljustice reform. Our troops deserve nothing less. Absolutely. All right, firstly, were out of time. Thank you for being with us today. Heath, youre gonna stick around for us for our next segment, and we are going to be back in just a moment. Big thanks to Nancy Parrish and colonel christensen with protect our defenders and to heath phillips, who is a survivor rape. We will stay with us for the next segment. Now, when we come back, youre going to meet two attorneys who have been honored for their work on behalf of military Sexual Assault survivors, so please stay with us. Well be right back. Were talking about a tragic subject rape in the military, affecting women and men. Heath phillips is joining us once again as a survivor, and our new guests are two attorneys from the Legal Aid SocietyEmployment Law center, elizabeth kristen, the director of their gender equity and lgbt rights program, and cacilia kim, special council, and you were both honored by congresswoman Jackie Speier, and you won a whole bunch of other awards, so congratulations. Thank you. Thanks, cheryl. And i appreciate you both being here today. I want to start with heath because you had a legal battle after you reported what happened to you your your Sexual Assault. So, tell me what happened with with how they they treated you in the military. Um. Eventually, i was discharged. It was a dishonorable discharge because i went awol. Um. And you went awol because you didnt want to be assaulted again. To protect myself, yes. That was the only way i could protect myself. Um. So, you didnt get your benefits. You had to fight for them. It. Took years. And years. I had a lot of support. Protect our defenders, congresswoman Jackie Speier. My senator, senator. Kirsten gillibrand. Between all of them, the probono. I. Took years. Um, finally, i won my appeal. And. I have 100 Service Connected for ptsd due to the mst. And. And i think a lot of people dont understand that, who are not in the military, when they hear ptsd and mst. So so, let me start with you, elizabeth, and, cacilia, you can jump in if you want to, just for people who dont understand how those two are connected. Yeah, ptsd is a term that means posttraumatic stress disorder, and military sexual trauma is a term thats abbreviated mst, and so, it happens when someone is sexually assaulted in the military. They develop ptsd, but it has some different symptoms that ptsd you might develop from combat. Its, in some ways, more severe than combat ptsd, and yet its more difficult sometimes to get those benefits that heath was talking about. So, heath, you feel like you were retaliated against, right . Yes, maam, in more than one way. And how would you compare that retaliation to the assault . [ sighs ] its actually worse. It was worse . Iiits more demeaning. When. You join the military, theyre supposed to have your back, and when they dont have your back. It makes it worse. And then the v. A. They dont help you out. It makes it worse. So, you relive each moment over and over. So, each time they retaliate against you by. Taking your benefits away or not allowing you to be seen, it reopens the wounds. Mm, im so sorry. Cacilia, we were talking off air about the retaliation and the problems that youre seeing, a kind of a theme that happens with people who are survivors of these attacks. Youre seeing sort of the same thing. They get diagnosed with a certain type of disorder. Right, and weve heard that a lot from servicemembers who have been assaulted, like heath, where, you know, once they are assaulted, then they have these instead of having ptsd from the military sexual trauma. Theyre diagnosed with preexisting personality disorders. And because it preexisted, the military, they dont the military doesnt have to provide any kind of compensation or treatment for the veterans, and so this is another form of punishment and retaliation that you see against servicemembers, and, unfortunately, retaliation is still widespread for people who come forward and say theyve been sexually assaulted, and theres a recent the most recent data shows that nearly 2 3 of those who come forward to say theyve been sexually assaulted are still being retaliated once they make the report, so this is a huge issue, and before we say to servicemembers they to come forward and repot these assaults, we really need to make sure that they are not retaliated for doing so. This is really alarming because someone like heath its taken him 30 years to get to a better place thanks to all the help and to his own determination, but what i mean, what do we tell our survivors who are afraid . Its very difficult for survivors to come forward, and yet theres a paradox. If they dont come forward, were never gonna stop this problem of military Sexual Assault. So, i have so much respect and admiration for people like heath who come forward and for the work that protect our defenders is doing and our advocates like congresswoman speier to both make the system better and also to support our survivors, to come forward because we cant have them remaining silent and have this epidemic continue. And i think its particularly important for male sexualassault victims to come forward because this is an overlooked issue. So, 85 of the activemilitary force are male, so at least as many, if not more, men have been sexually assaulted in the military as women, and yet most of the the work and the prevention for military sexual trauma or Sexual Assaults in the military have focused largely on women, and there arent Many Services for men, and so it really we need to bring this issue to the forefront and keep it in the forefront until we stop these assaults. So we need to hear from more male survivors. Is that what youre saying . Exactly. But its a terrifying catch22. You are now on the Advisory Board for protect our defenders. Yes, maam. What knowing all of this and what youve been through, what do you say to people . Well, well, when i came forward. I have a word terminology. Its like a burn victim. Each time i speak about it, im shedding an extra layer of skin. And it. Im not healed, but its helping me heal. Mmhmm. [ sighs ] i cant speak for anybody else, but for myself, coming forward was probably the best thing i couldve ever done in my life. And if anybody else comes forward, there is protect our defenders theres people there to help you, and thats they need to come forward and get the help they need. We have about 10 seconds left. Final thought from you, elizabeth. I just have so much admiration for our servicemen and women who do come forward and do speak out against Sexual Assault, and i want them to know that protect our defenders, and the probono network, were there to support them as best we can. You know, this isnt one or two isolated incidents. We have thousands of military servicemembers who have been raped when they join the military service to serve their country, and so we really need to focus on this issue and stop the assaults. All right, thank you all for being here. Thank you for being so public about it, and congratulations on healing or at least beginning that process with your family. Thank you. All right, i really appreciate your being here. Thank you. It was a pleasure. Thank you. And thank you so much for joining us. For more information about todays special program and resources where you live, just to our website, abc7news. Com community. Were also on facebook at abc7communityaffairs, and follow me on twitter cherylabc7. Im cheryl jennings. Well see you next time. You guys be good[ bark ] ill [ bark ]later. Bye. See ya pal. Xfinity home provides 24 7 professional monitoring for 24 7 peace of mind. Aw. Aw. Aw. Aw. [ dryer running ] know what your pets are up to. Partys on . With xfinity home, connected, protected home. Xfinity customers get a great deal on xfinity home and ask about free installation. Call or go online today. See the secret life of pets, in theatres july 8th. all with worryfree ownership. Colors in your neighborhood. Head to your neighborhood enterprise car sales and let the people who buy more vehicles than anyone. Shift your thinking about buying your next one. The Dallas Police chief today revealed knew details that he lone sunshiner who killed five officers last week. We learn today that dallas gunman left a message during his final moments. Heres new developments on that and the story of a woman who was shot in the attack. He said he has gun, run. Reporter an emotional new glimpse into thursday nights deadly ambush in dallas from a survivor. Saw another officer get shot right there in front