He Went AWOL After Being Sexually Assaulted on a Navy Ship --The Health Phillips Military Sexual Assault Survivor Story

Roar with Shari. . . All Things Justice for Women & Survivors

In this episode, I’m talking with Heath Phillips. For those of you who think it only happens to women and girls, think again. One in five boys is sexually abused before their 18th birthday by an older woman, man, or another boy. Sexual assault has skyrocketed in the military for the men and women serving our country.

While serving in the Navy at just 17, the first time Heath Phillips told his superiors he had been sexually assaulted, he was called a liar, and a homesick mama’s boy. There were six attackers and yet in a large Navy ship where privacy could be found neither in the showers nor in the rows of bunk beds, nobody bothered to help. He filed complaint after complaint for 49 days straight as the sexual violence continued. Join us to hear the harrowing story and ensuing bravery of a victim of the all too common, sexual assault in the military. After 30 years, the military finally believed him.