Kids & Family
I conducted this interview in 2017 but today in 2020, it's still so relevant. Now that the old podcast is down, I'm publishing again so that the great work being done is not forgotten.Former U.S. Marine Erin Kirk-Cuomo is fully aware of what her sisters in the Marine Corps are going through as they battle Marines United; a group of 30,000+ men who stored and shared thousands of photos of female Marines on Google Drive and Facebook. Some of the photos were taken without permission, some were nude photos shared without permission. In many cases, male Marines encouraged each other to find these women and rape them, even posting their duty stations, full names, addresses and phone numbers.Erin knows because it happened to her. As co-founder of Not in My Marine Corps, she's helping to lobby for federal laws that will make non-consensual photosharing illegal on a federal level, and providing support for victims. But like many before her, she's sometimes fighting an uphill battle not everyone is sure she can win.Listen on iTunesShow Notes:Links: https://www.facebook.com/NotInMyMarineCorps/https://www.notinmymarinecorps.org/Biography: Erin Kirk-Cuomo is a former United States Marine, business owner, activist, co-founder of Not In My Marine Corps, Coast Guard wife, and mother. Ms. Kirk-Cuomo is a 2002 Graduate of the University of Tampa with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and a minor in Chemistry, and a 2005 Graduate of the University of the Arts in Photojournalism. Upon graduating from the University of the Arts in 2005, Ms. Kirk-Cuomo enlisted in the Marine Corps as a combat photographer.After completing basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina, Ms. Kirk-Cuomo completed combat training at Camp Geiger in Jacksonville, North Carolina before attending the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Maryland where she graduated as the Distinguished Honor Graduate. Ms. Kirk-Cuomo was assigned to Camp Pendleton where she briefly worked at the base combat camera unit before being transferred to 1st Marine Division Combat Camera, deploying several times to Fallujah as a combat photographer. During her deployments in Iraq, Ms. Kirk-Cuomo was deployed with various infantry units in and around Al Anbar to include Ramadi, Al Qaim, Saqlawiyah, and Korean Village. Ms. Kirk-Cuomo was also a member of the lioness team and later a member on the very first female engagement team created in Fallujah in 2008. Upon the end of her deployment to Iraq in 2008, Ms. Kirk-Cuomo was selected as the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ photographer for General James Conway. Ms. Kirk-Cuomo traveled to Afghanistan extensively while being assigned to the staff of the Commandant including covering the beginning of the battle of Marjah in 2010.Not In My Marine Corps was created in order to provide a platform of resources for survivors of military sexual trauma, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and non-consensual photo sharing. Not In My Marine Corps also strives to provide an online support group to share stories and experiences to encourage and educate survivors that they are not alone in this fight.