New Seattle charity aims to help military sexual-trauma victims Pack Parachute

Pack Parachute provides financial assistance and advocacy for veterans who were raped while serving in the military. The new charity adds to Seattle's tradition of being a resource for military sexual-trauma victims.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009716522_militaryrape23m.html

Pack Parachute, a new charity co-founded by Avila Smith this summer in Seattle, is designed to give men and women who were raped while serving in the military the financial and emotional aid they need.

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Sexual assaults are rarely reported in general, but in the military, rape victims are often threatened, intimidated or persecuted into silence by military members who are directly responsible for the victim's safety while serving, said Avila Smith.

Kay Whitley, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office in the Department of Defense, calls the threats and persecution that can follow a rape a "re-victimization" and said it is not limited to military members.

"I think it's a national problem," said Whitley. "That can happen to anyone, civilian or military."

In 2005, when reports began surfacing of sexual assaults during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Defense made sexual-assault prevention and response a priority and created new policies to provide victims with resources.

"With everything we have in place now, that should not be happening," Whitley said about revictimization. "We have made big progress in a short period of time. There is a system in place to take care of them."