Female Senators Lecture Military Chiefs on Sex Assault
June 05, 2013
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee held hearings Tuesday into sexual assault in the military, following a Pentagon report that found as many as 26,000 cases of abuse in the past year.
A recent documentary alleges the military is crawling with sexual predators, and a new Pentagon report shows a 35 percent rise in cases of “unwanted sexual contact” in the last two years.
Both have angered lawmakers - especially women lawmakers. Several on the Senate Armed Services Committee gave the all-male top brass an earful.
“You have lost the trust of the men and women who rely on you, that you will actually bring justice in these cases," said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, New York. "They’re afraid to report. They think their careers will be over. They fear retaliation. They fear being blamed."
Gillibrand has proposed legislation that would allow sexual assaults to be reported outside the chain of command.
Proponents of the legislation say that’s what been done by the defense forces of allies such as Israel.
But Army Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno warned it could weaken discipline. “If I believed that removing commanders from their central role of responsibility in addressing sexual assault would solve these crimes within our ranks, I would be your strongest proponent," he said. "But removing commanders, making commanders less responsible and less accountable, will not work.”
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2013-11-25
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25