Panayiota Bertzikis is an author, public speaker, and women's rights activist.

Life and works

Panayiota Bertzikis is a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

veteran who founded the Military Rape Crisis Center in August 2006 while she was still on active duty. The Military Rape Crisis Center provides medical advocacy, support groups, legal services, case management, community education, and professional training to victims of military sexual trauma while fighting gender-based violence. Bertzikis made claims of being sexually assaulted by a shipmate while serving in the

in Burlington, Vermont and saw a lack of support and no substantial steps being made to investigate the matter from the authorities after her assault. After her discharge from the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

for failure to adjust, she was awarded the Unsung Heroines of Massachusetts award by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women in May 2010. Bertzikis also runs the blog mydutytospeak.com. She has been awarded the Peter Vogel Gold Leadership Award (twice) and the Peter Vogel Silver Leadership Award.

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Military Rape Crisis Center
- Executive director - Panayiota Bertzikis. Living people 21st-century American women writers Sexual assault in the United States military Female United States Coast Guard personnel 1981 births American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers {{US-military-bio-stub

Life and works

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