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Jessika Rovell      

Attorney, Naval Intelligence Officer, and Sexual Violence Victim Advocate; Director, JMAR Unlimited, LLC

Jessika M. A. Rovell, Esq. is an attorney with more than twenty years of leadership, management, and training experience working within military, public, and private sectors… she is also a sexual assault and domestic violence survivor. Victimized as a law student and during the early years of her legal and military careers, she shares her compelling story of survival and resilience in an inspiring, relatable and at times humorous way.

Since 2002, Rovell has served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, enlisting as an Intelligence Specialist before receiving a Direct Commission in 2005. She currently serves as an Intelligence Officer and a Department of Defense certified Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Victim Advocate. During the last 14 years, she has supported elements including the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Joint Staff, the Defense Technology Security Administration, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Office of Naval Intelligence. She received Joint Service and Navy Achievement Medals, as well as the Bluejacket of the Year and Rear Admiral Keith Leadership Awards for her leadership, training expertise, and development of training programs used nationwide by Navy Reserve intelligence personnel.

As a public sector employment attorney, Rovell advises and trains executives, supervisors, and employees across the country concerning diversity & inclusion in the workplace, equal employment opportunity, employment discrimination, alternative dispute resolution, and reasonable accommodations.

In addition to her legal and military careers, Rovell is also founder and director of JMAR Unlimited, LLC, which provides lectures, workshops, writing and consulting services focused on diversity & inclusion in the workplace, sexual assault and domestic violence awareness, prevention, and response.

Rovell resides in Alexandria, Virginia with her incredible fiancé, their silly blonde German shepherd, and their crazy Siamese cat.

Speech Topics

Making It Personal: Sexual Violence, Survival, and Support

This engaging and inspiring talk confronts traditional thinking about sexual assault and domestic violence and empowers audiences to play an active role in prevention and response.

When Rovell first experienced sexual violence, she was a dean’s list law student and a newly enlisted U.S. Navy Reservist. She was just starting her legal and military careers, and refused to allow sexual violence to define the future she was building. Rovell is a thriving survivor, and this is her story.

Myths vs. Facts: Straight Talk About Sexual Violence

This direct and revealing talk confronts longstanding myths about sexual assault and domestic violence, challenging audiences to shift their posture from reactive to proactive and play an active role in sexual violence awareness, prevention, and response.

For this program, Rovell uses her personal story of sexual assault and domestic violence survival to address popular sexual violence myths:

  • "Drug and alcohol use cause rape and domestic violence."
  • "Women’s dress and behavior provoke rape."
  • "Men can't be raped."
  • "If it was that bad, she’d just leave."
  • "Only certain types of women get raped or abused – not me."

She talks about her personal denial of victimhood due to her own susceptibility to such myths and empowers participants to use what they learn to actively debunk their own myths to promote personal and community safety. Participants are asked to consider the neurobiological mechanisms which encourage us to passively accept myths, rather than actively acknowledge reality.

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