Vanessa Guillen.Photo: Fort Hood US Army
It has been more than two years since the murder ofU.S. Army soldier Vanessa Guillengarnered international attention amid revelations she had beensexually harassed before her death.
On Nov. 17, Netflix will release a documentary,I Am Vanessa Guillen, which follows her family’s fight for answers and reform — a journey that took them to Congress and the Oval Office and spurred the passage of theI Am Vanessa Guillen Act, which revamped the way sexual harassment and assault in the military are investigated.
The documentary features interviews with her sisters, Mayra and Lupe, her mother Gloria, her friends and her boyfriend, as well as U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
On April 22, 2020, at about 10:30 a.m.,Guillen was spotted in a parking lotat squadron headquarters in Fort Hood, the Texas military installation where she was stationed. It was the last time anyone saw her.
Vanessa Guillen.US Army
In the days and weeks that followed, Guillen’s sister, Lupe, said the family’s attempts to get answers surrounding Guillen’s disappearance and allegations of harassment were allegedly met with lies from Fort Hood personnel.
“They lied to our faces every single day … which is more than two months,” Lupe said at a press conference at the time.
Lupe added that Fort Hood personnel “didn’t respect my sister. They didn’t keep my sister safe. They’re always trying to cover up for each other.”
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“My sister deserved respect,” Lupe added. “She deserves to be heard. Because if this could happen to my sister, it could happen to anyone else.”
It would take 10 weeks before Guillen’s remains were discovered near the Leon River in Bell County, Texas.
Her killer wasAaron David Robinson, a fellow soldier at Ford Hood, who took his own life as law enforcement closed in on him.
“At the core, this is a story about overcoming the greatest odds imaginable in the name of family, love and justice. This is David vs. Goliath on steroids,” the documentary’s director, Christy Wegener, said in a statement to PEOPLE.
“Taking on the U.S. military, one of the largest, most powerful institutions in America is no easy feat. In making the film, it was incredible to witness a family, in the most tragic moment of their lives, put their grief aside, step out into the public arena and fight for the greater good,” Wegener said.
Lupe Guillen, in a statement to PEOPLE, said, “I believe it is fundamental to share Vanessa’s story with society due to the stigmas surrounding sexual violence and the ongoing femicides happening around the world. To set a reminder to young women and everyone to use their voices for change to be established.”
source: people.com
