Netflix released the documentary I am Vanessa Guillen on Nov. 17, which takes a closer look at how her family is fighting fiercely against one of the most authoritative departments in the nation to find the truth about what happened to the murdered army specialist.

Back in 2020, her name took the nation by storm after a story emerged of her disappearance from the Fort Hood army post in Texas. It was through the continuous triumph of the Guillen family that the truth of what may have led to her vanishing and eventual death came to light. 

Months before her disappearance, Guillen revealed to her family that she had been sexually harassed on multiple occasions by another soldier who held a higher ranking than her. When she suddenly went missing months later, this secret became the focal point of the investigation, as it gave a motive as to why someone would want to, unfortunately, harm her. Vanessa’s story connected not only with people who wanted to spread the word to help her return home but also with other women in the army who shared a similar story. 

“More than half of women soldiers who report sexual harassment say they are repeatedly harassed, according to a Rand Corporation study about sexual harassment and gender discrimination faced by soldiers,” according to the Army Times. Many of these women shared that they were scared of speaking up because of how powerful the institution is. Mayra Guillen, Vanessa’s sister furthered this by saying in an interview “she felt if she spoke, something would happen.” 

“People need to feel safe speaking up,” Niles North psychologist Kimberly Bernardi said.

This idea can be expanded upon in terms of how people of color already face prejudice and disadvantages in the world and the workplace. This could be an added layer besides the fear factor and consequences of why a Latina like Vanessa Guillen didn’t make a report or speak up sooner. 

Fort Hood, which holds a reputation in the military world as being one of the most dangerous bases, was highly uncooperative with the family and their legal team. They denied these incidents were ever reported, so therefore never happened. In the documentary, it was also noted that their participation in the search for Vanessa was less than adequate as they withheld information that was valuable to the investigation, as well as not using their surplus of resources and connections to execute a thorough search. 

Many speculate that the base was covering up for Specialist Robinson (the man responsible for her disappearance and demise) and for the sake of their reputation, as it took 10 weeks to find Guillen, and they showed little compassion/cooperation towards her loved ones and legal team along the way. 

The documentary concludes with delayed justice and hopes for Guillen, her family, and other victims. The “I am Vanessa Guillen Act” was passed by the Senate in 2020. This bill ensures the right of private prosecutors to investigate complaints and cases regarding sexual assault against the United States military.  

 In recent news, on Nov. 29, Cecily Aguilar, the former partner to Specialist Aaron Robinson pleaded guilty as an accomplice to the murder in the first degree. 

Justice is slowly starting to be served to Vanessa Guillen. The documentary was able to solely focus on the heartbreak and fight her family is continuously fighting, which gave this case a new perspective of urgency for change. “Documentaries like this try to uncover the truth,” Social Studies teacher Jordan Shiner said. “They don’t gloss over what needs to be exposed.” 

Though the world may never know all the details of why and how this tragic event unfolded, it’s promising that her name and story are being brought up again. The only way to keep her memory alive and prevent this from happening again is to keep talking about it.