the Gray Rhino shits

“A ‘gray rhino’ is a highly probable, high impact yet neglected threat: kin to both the elephant in the room and the improbable and unforeseeable black swan. Gray rhinos are not random surprises, but occur after a series of warnings and visible evidence. The bursting of the housing bubble in 2008, the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, the new digital technologies that upended the media world, the fall of the Soviet Union…all were evident well in advance.”

- Michele Wucker

My personal “Gray Rhino” is the sexual assault that lead to my retirement from active duty military service. This performance art piece entitled “The Grey Rhino Shits” is about the tangled aftermath that results from preventable tragedy. Military Sexual Assault is a Gray Rhino. The Department of Defense is well aware of the threats posed by military sexual assault. DOD is also aware of the reality that military sexual assault has happened, is happening, and will continue to happen if left in its current state. Military sexual assault is predictable and is preventable. The Department of Defense has hundreds of pages of research that are released to the public every fiscal year about MSA that detail the impact it has on the armed forces. DOD covers that resources are available to victims of MSA after the assault has occurred. But the DOD fails to provide information on what happens to victims after “help” is given.

It has been my personal experience that I and all the women I’ve known have been retired from active duty service after experiencing military sexual assault.

I hope to spend my time in the summer of 2024 doing research on military sexual trauma victims and where they have ended up long after their trauma has occurred.