Former Air Force Cadet Beth Davis testified in front of the Government Reform Subcommittee on National security Tuesday on her experience with sexual assault within the Air Force. Davis testified alongside Christine Hansen, executive director of the Miles Foundation, and Delilah Rumburg, executive director of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

A freshman in the Air Force Academy in 1999, Davis reported being raped and sexually assaulted five times during the course of the year. She described a "cohesive effort against [her]" from the chain of command "all the way to the Pentagon" after she filed charges against her assailant. Upon the recommendation of the Air Force?s legal offices, her case was closed after six months. Davis said that an appointment was set up for her to see an Air Force psychologist; at the appointment, the psychologist admitted that he had been told by an officer that he had to come up with an analysis that would have her removed from the Academy. She repeatedly stated that her entire career had been ruined. Her assailant, on the other hand, never faced any consequences for his actions; she stated that "[nothing] of substance has ever been done."

Davis spoke on her experiences talking with other female cadets and cited data showing that her case was not an exception, but the norm. She spoke of a culture in which male cadets are aware that they can rape and sexually assault and get away with it. At one point in her testimony, Davis stated that every female cadet she knew in the Air Force Academy had been raped. Rep. Christopher Shays of Connecticut, head of the subcommittee, stopped her and asked her if she was certain of her statement, absolutely positive that every female cadet she knew had been raped. Davis responded that she was absolutely certain that the answer was yes. She also cited a Washington Post study which examined 56 claims of sexual assault within the Air Force. Of the 56, two were brought to trial, one of which was in a civilian rather than military court. In the rest of the cases, either a bargain was struck where the attacker would resign from the Air Force, or nothing happened. One subcommittee member remarked that the way sexual assault is handled is more like how cheating on a test than a violent crime, as the perpetrator, if caught, is kicked out of the institution rather than charged with a crime and sent to jail. Near the end of the hearing, Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York summarized the testimony she had heard as follows: "Rapists get promotions and continue their careers. In some extreme cases, they are quietly dismissed. Rape victims get sent to a psychologist, have charges filed against them, and have their careers destroyed."