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Oversight Still Lacking With Regards To Military Sexual Assaults

06/25/11-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
This past week, President Barack Obama called for a modest withdraw of troops from Afghanistan. Also, this week, the Senate confirmed Leon Panetta as the new Secretary of Defense. The issue of sexual assault in the ranks is something that Panetta will have to deal with, but it already seems like the Pentagon is more than willing to avoid actually dealing with the issue. Service Women Action Network or SWAN has called for the military to make necessary reforms. According to them, what needs to happen is “1. Victims’ rights and protections; 2. Commander accountability; and 3. The prosecution and court-martial systems.”

According to SWAN:

Secretary Panetta faces a dire situation. The Department of Defense estimates 19,000 sexual assaults occurred just last year. 86.5% of military sexual assault survivors do not report the crime, because of intimidation, fear of further abuse or death, and lack of confidence in the investigative and military legal systems. Of the 3,158 reports that were officially made last year, only 529 cases were preferred for courts-martial, and of these, only 53% were convicted.

The Government Accountability Office or GAO has reported that the Department of Defense’s Inspector General’s office has failed to properly investigate many sexual assaults. SWAN is calling for an independent body to investigate these crimes. Currently, military law allows “for inexperienced junior commanders the discretion to determine whether or not alleged perpetrators in their own units should face a court-martial.”

SWAN also stated:

SWAN has been working closely with policymakers to revise age-old policies, regulations and statutes on sexual assault and to establish the oversight that is so sorely lacking in sexual assault investigations and prosecutions. We are grateful for the tireless work of Rep Bruce Braley, who has introduced the most comprehensive sexual assault legislation we have seen yet, in H.R 1517, The Holley Lynn James Act. This bill includes provisions that would engage the DOD Inspector General in its oversight duties for both sexual assault and domestic violence. H.R. 1517 would also allow sexual assault, sexual harassment and domestic violence survivors who have been victims of commander or institutional negligence the right to sue for damages in Federal court.