The Biden administration said it’s over sexual assault and harassment in the US military remains a priority after a report released this week showed sexual assault cases in the military rose 13% last year.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday: “One sexual assault is too many, and the president has been very clear about making sure we make real change to eliminate this ranks of criminals”.
She said President Joe Biden Signed an executive order in January to respond to gender-based violence in the military, including making sexual harassment a specific offense under the US military justice code . Critics have accused the government failure bold steps they say are necessary to solve the problem.
“We understand, of course, that more work remains to be done as this new data proves,” says Jean-Pierre. “But solving the scourge of sexual assault in the military will continue to be a priority for the Department of Defense and this administration.”
According to a secret survey released by the Pentagon on Thursday, reports of sexual assault on United States Army 13% increase in fiscal year 2021 compared to the previous year.
The survey found that 8.4% of actively working women experienced some form of unwanted sex last year, while the figure among men nearly doubled to 1.5%. .
Nearly 36,000 service members said they had experienced unwanted sex – a significant increase from the roughly 20,000 who said so in a similar 2018 survey.
But the percentage of US military members reporting these incidents has fallen, the survey found: about a fifth of service members reported their sexual assault to authorities in 2021, down from 1/3 in 2016 and 2018.
“The result is a tragic reminder of the challenges we face and the absolute need for continued leadership, engagement, historic reforms still underway,” said Beth. Foster, executive director of force resilience at the US Department of Defense, told reporters on Thursday.
The numbers were driven by a massive increase in the army and navy as bases began to move out of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, authorities said.
Military officials have promised to take a sexual assault prevention approach and said $479 million to hire 2,400 personnel for a new “prevention force” would help them deal with the problem. this topic.
Nate Galbreath, acting director of the Pentagon’s Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, said the fund would “go a long way toward funding and sustaining change over time.”
‘National Crisis’
But more than half of those surveyed said they weren’t satisfied with the chain of command or law enforcement’s response to their particular incident, and 30 to 40 percent said they weren’t. Please feel free to respond to assault staff.
More than 20% of the women surveyed also said filing a sexual harassment complaint would be “too risky,” showing confidence in the military’s readiness to tackle sexual misconduct. still low.
Ashlea Klahr, the Pentagon’s director of health and resilience research, said some of the declines may reflect a broader distrust of the military and other government institutions that have deepened. more in recent years.
“We’ve also seen a drop in retention intent and a drop in confidence in potential recruits and their influencers about whether the military is doing a good job of tackling attack,” she said. sex work or not”.
In December, US lawmakers passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes reforms to the military justice system that will dictate decisions regarding the prosecution of cases. rape and sexual assault beyond the reach of military commanders.
However, lawmakers and activists say the changes do not meet the scale of the challenge, especially given the widespread lack of trust in the military justice system.
US Representative Jackie Speier, co-chair of the Conference of Democratic Women, said: “Congressional oversight is needed to ensure that military leadership is taken into account and that any additional changes are taken into account. deemed necessary to resolve this national embarrassment and crisis.”
Speier said this week that the survey results are worrisome and that she will hold a hearing in the coming weeks to get more answers.
