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Houston honors Vanessa Guillen with event
Fort Hood Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen would have turned 24-years-old on Saturday. Her 2020 murder sparked a national conversation about military sexual harassment and assault. City leaders held an event in her honor in the Sunnyside area. FOX 26's Sherman Desselle reports more on how the soldier was honored.
HOUSTON - City leaders in Houston held an event Saturday to honor Vanessa Guillen, an Army specialist who was murdered at Fort Hood in Texas in April 2020.
Guillen was 20-years-old at the time of her death.
The event was a joint effort by the Mayor's Office of Veteran Affairs and the Vanessa Guillen Foundation. It was held at the Sunnyside Multi-Service Center and was open to the public.
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The purpose of the event was to create a safe space for military members to talk about their own difficult experiences and be empowered to speak up. Service members and veterans gathered to share their stories and to support each other.
Dr. LaShondra Jones, the director of the Mayor's Office of Military and Veteran Affairs, said that Guillen's death sparked a national conversation about military sexual harassment and assault. She said that the conversation is finally starting to make a difference.
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"Thankfully because of her life and the life that she gave, the doors began to open, and the women came from behind the doors and were no longer silenced because of what she went through," Jones said. "They all became the faces of Vanessa."
Mayra Guillen, Vanessa's sister, was in attendance at the event on behalf of the family's foundation. She posted about her sister on social media, celebrating her life and legacy.
Recent state legislation honors Guillen's name and aims to protect men and women in the military who report harassment or assault without fear of retaliation or a break of confidentiality.
"There are many men who experience military sexual trauma, and they are ashamed or afraid to come forward and they live with these things in silence because they feel that they are alone," said Cassie Gibson, the director of Harris County Precinct 2 Veteran's Services. "The purpose of this is to let everyone know that you are not alone."
Both city leaders and Guillen's family say that they want to see more progress made to protect service members from sexual harassment and assault.
"More legislation, to hold the commands accountable," Jones said. "When someone comes forward to say they have been harassed by their brothers in arms that someone does something, and it's not 15, 20 years later when they're reliving the whole memory and wishing that they would've said something."