The retaliation was worse than the assault, many victims told researchers reporting on sexual assault in the military.
That disturbing insight was included in a recent Human Rights Watch report that documented 75 instances of retaliation against service members who reported sexual assaults since late 2013.
The retaliation included everything from social shunning to bullying, from removal from promotion consideration to being forced out of the service. Some victims said that after reporting an assault, they for the first time received poor evaluations or were forced to perform demeaning jobs, such as picking up trash. One security forces airman said her weapon was taken away — essentially removing her from her job — because she was being “emotional” about the assault.
Clearly, many who have suffered a sexual assault in the military are being victimized twice — once by an attacker and another by a culture that too often is at best insensitive and at worst vindictive to those who report the crimes.
Human Rights Watch recommended that Congress overhaul the Military Whistleblower Protection Act to provide service members the same protections provided to civilians when reporting sexual assault. Further, the organization recommended banning charges or disciplinary actions against survivors for whom minor misconduct — such as underage drinking — comes to light only because the victim reported the assault.
The group called on DoD to expand initiatives such as the Special Victims Counsel program — which it lauded as “a singularly powerful reform” — as well as to expedite transfers and develop nonmilitary options for mental health care.
Such ideas are reasonable, doable and urgently needed.
