October 01, 2020

If the Military Can't Handle Its Sexual Assault Problem, Congress Needs to Step In

By: Katie Galgano and Emma Moore

Last week, a group of bipartisan lawmakers expressed their frustration with the military's handling of sexual assault by introducing the "I Am Vanessa Guillén Act," new legislation to address a long-standing problem.

Sexual misconduct is a pervasive problem in the military, with rates continuing to rise on a year-to-year basis. Instances of sexual assault and rape for service women increased from 4.3% in 2016 to 6.2% in 2018. This increase comes despite greater congressional, military and public attention and support to addressing sexual harassment in the ranks.

Should the DoD continue failing at comprehensively and effectively addressing sexual violence, Congress must intervene more robustly.

As a result of sexual assault and harassment, as many as 25% of survivors leave the military. Publicly, the military says it views sexual assault as a readiness issue. But internally, it is not treated like one.

Read the full article from Military.com.

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