Two years ago, the sexual harassment and murder of Army Spec. Vanessa Guillén by a fellow soldier at Fort Hood brought national attention to the military’s problems with keeping service members safe.
Despite the extra scrutiny and congressional oversight, as well as a $35 million lawsuit by Guillén’s family against the Army, the Defense Department continues to lose ground in its war against sexual assault.
On Aug. 29, the department released its 2021 report on sexual assault in the ranks, and the numbers are troubling.
Fiscal year 2021 saw a “significant increase” in the prevalence of sexual assaults across the services, with 8.4 percent of active-duty women and 1.5 percent of active-duty men reporting they experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in the preceding 12 months.
These are the highest percentages since the Pentagon began tracking the numbers in 2006.
That’s an estimated 35,875 people, up significantly from the 20,500 in a 2018 report. And neither of those percentages include the thousands more family members, friends and co-workers also affected by the toxic effects of sexual misconduct.
The Pentagon noted that the COVID pandemic delayed some of the report’s surveying, and the survey was different from previous years, which “disrupted the department’s ability to scientifically trend to prior years’ sexual assault prevalence estimates.”
The services received 8,866 reports of sexual assault, a 13 percent bump from the previous year. The Army had the highest increase.
While more reporting is a good sign, that news was tempered by a decreased rate of reporting. The DOD estimates that about 1 in 5 service members reported their sexual assault in 2021, down from the 1 in 3 reported in 2018.
Then there’s the finding that rates of sexual harassment, gender discrimination and workplace hostility spiked for active-duty women across the services.
Regardless of delays and survey changes, the report is yet another wake-up call for military leaders.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has been proactive in combating sexual assault since taking office. In 2021, the DOD launched the Secretary’s Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, which recommended 82 improvements, but there’s more work to be done.
The report said military “commanders had sufficient evidence to take disciplinary action in 67 percent of accused members’ cases.”
But Don Christensen, a retired Air Force colonel and former chief prosecutor for the service, said that’s not enough. He leads Protect Our Defenders, a national human rights organization focused on ending sexual violence in the military.
Christensen is a staunch advocate for independent military prosecutors — rather than commanders — determining whether sexual assault, rape and other serious offenses are prosecuted. We are, too.
Provisions for such special trial counsels, who are outside the chain of command, passed in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.
“If leadership had supported, rather than obstructed, removing commanders’ prosecution authority years ago, the military would be in a much better place now,” Christensen said in a statement. “Thankfully, due to the persistence of Sen. (Kirsten) Gillibrand and Rep. (Jackie) Speier and the support of President Biden, real reform finally passed last year.”
Unfortunately, the benefits of the special trial counsels won’t take effect until late next year. Each service will have at least one to prosecute alleged offenses that occur after Dec. 27, 2023.
“These disturbing numbers should be a wake-up call for the generals and admirals to fully support the new system that will empower independent military prosecutors — not commanders — to make prosecution decisions,” Christensen said. “It’s past time now for commanders to seriously work on reforming the culture of the military that is too accepting of sexual assault and harassment.”
Not only is sexual assault corrosive to the morale and readiness of military units, it hurts recruiting and retention.
Sexual assault in the military is a threat to national security, and military leaders must redouble their efforts to combat this menace.
Report citing an increase of incidents is a new wake-up call for leaders