{"id":62525,"date":"2021-07-02T21:06:48","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T21:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/02\/a-professionalized-military-sexual-assault-and-response-program-could-be-on-the-way\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:58:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:58:23","slug":"a-professionalized-military-sexual-assault-and-response-program-could-be-on-the-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/07\/02\/a-professionalized-military-sexual-assault-and-response-program-could-be-on-the-way\/","title":{"rendered":"A professionalized military sexual assault and response program could be on the way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experts have long said that the key to preventing<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/05\/13\/tiny-uptick-in-2020-military-sex-assault-reports-officials-say\/\" target=\"_blank\"> sexual assault<\/a> in the military <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2021\/07\/02\/military-needs-commanders-who-truly-dont-support-sexual-assault-commission-concludes\/\" target=\"_blank\">lies with leaders<\/a>, and leaders have echoed that claim, adamant that good order and discipline hinges on their ability to call the shots in their formations. But the results are in, via <a href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2021\/Jul\/02\/2002755437\/-1\/-1\/0\/IRC-FULL-REPORT-FINAL-1923-7-1-21.PDF\/IRC-FULL-REPORT-FINAL-1923-7-1-21.PDF\" target=\"_blank\">300-page report<\/a>: They largely don\u2019t know what they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With that in mind, the Pentagon\u2019s independent review commission, which authored the report, has a host of solutions. Most include embedding experienced, professional prevention and response experts into units, to not only develop local SAPR programs, but to take the lead on response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The commission met with leaders who resoundingly said that the key to stamping out sexual assault in the military is preventing it, commission chair Lynn Rosenthal told reporters on Friday. \u201cBut they don\u2019t really know what prevention is or how it\u2019s different from response.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Victim advocates and response coordinators are available at every unit, but they are often service members with limited training performing a collateral duty. Where possible, the report recommends, there should be professionals in those positions, with collateral duty limited to austere, deployed environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A contingent of masters-level experts in public health, social science and behavioral health would go a long way to helping commanders prevent and confront sexual misconduct, according to the report, but they would have to be removed from the chain of command, so as to be able to operate independently from an officer and his or her priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Commanders, Rosenthal said, just don\u2019t have the training or experience to handle responses appropriately. And, she told Military Times, she\u2019s confident that they would welcome the help when it comes to implementing their SAPR programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey have very basic questions sometimes, like why did a victim stay in contact with someone who may have assaulted them?\u201d she said. \u201cWhy did a victim not want to be transferred? Why did she want to stay, where she felt like maybe she had some support?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A lack of education on the dynamics of sexual assault, and what\u2019s considered normal behavior for survivors, can cause some commanders to brush off assault allegations as invented, or consensual, based on their own misunderstanding of what makes a credible witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is why you have to have an experienced workforce to advise commanders, because much of it is not intuitive,\u201d Rosenthal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Feedback from the commission\u2019s travels included frustration with commanders who get wrapped around the axle trying to hit every bullet point in a post-report checklist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen they step in, then they want to take charge,\u201d she said. \u201cSo then they start telling the victim everything that he or she should be doing, and that\u2019s not the right approach either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Instead of telling a survivor what comes next, or peppering him or her with all the options, Rosenthal said, commanders would do better to ask a survivor how they\u2019re doing and what they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Or, even better, a professional with experience in responding to trauma would take the lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s critical for commands to have that help, and to get it right, she added, not least of all because suicidal ideation is very common among survivors who feel their cases haven\u2019t been handled with care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that\u2019s regardless of whether there were charges or a conviction, she added. Survivors are often just looking for support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cEvery survivor that we talked to who had made an unrestricted report &#8230; told us they regretted it,\u201d she said, either because the appropriate services weren\u2019t made available, or simply because gossip within the unit caused members to pick sides \u2015 often not having the back of the survivor, who then faces ostracism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On average, 20,000 troops a year are sexually assaulted, Rosenthal said. Of those, 8,000 file some type of report. Of those, 5,000 file an unrestricted, which triggers a criminal investigation. A \u201ctiny fraction\u201d end up with any sort of Uniform Code of Justice action, versus lower-level administration or non-judicial outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat chasm, between the scope of the problem and the actions that are taken, mirrors the chasm that we found between what senior leaders say about this problem and what junior enlisted members experience at the unit level,\u201d Rosenthal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And while she doesn\u2019t believe hostility is driving commanders\u2019 decisions, she believes a lack of education on the risk factors for sexual assault, and trauma-informed responses to it, has created a level of mismanagement that amounts to acceptance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFor decades, service leaders have said that there is no tolerance for sexual assault,\u201d she said. \u201cBut in practice, all too often, there is nothing but tolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has endorsed the commission\u2019s report, as has President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis kind of violation and trauma should never occur. You have a right to be heard. You have a right to justice,\u201d Biden wrote in a news release Friday. \u201cAnd for all those in the ranks who have suffered an assault and its after effects in silence, whether because you felt that you would not receive the support you deserve, or because you feared the repercussions for yourself and your career \u2014 I hope this announcement offers some reassurance that the Department of Defense leadership stands with you, starting with your Commander in Chief.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Austin on Friday <a href=\"https:\/\/media.defense.gov\/2021\/Jul\/02\/2002755572\/-1\/-1\/0\/DOD-ACTIONS-AND-IMPLEMENTATION-TO-ADDRESS-SEXUAL-ASSAULT-AND-SEXUAL-HARRASSMENT-IN-THE-MILITARY.PDF\/DOD-ACTIONS-AND-IMPLEMENTATION-TO-ADDRESS-SEXUAL-ASSAULT-AND-SEXUAL-HARRASSMENT-IN-THE-MILITARY.PDF\" target=\"_blank\">issued a memo<\/a> to the department with a first wave of implementation instructions, including his sentiments that he believes the report\u2019s recommendations should be implemented wherever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur courage has to match in addressing this issue the courage and tenacity that survivors show every day when they work to rebuild their lives,\u201d Rosenthal said. \u201cThat\u2019s what this is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Experts recommend doing away with collateral duty victim advocates and response coordinators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":98942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3308],"class_list":["post-62525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"R34KW3F6QRH6TOJQPKTAFF2EBI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2021\/07\/02\/a-professionalized-military-sexual-assault-and-response-program-could-be-on-the-way\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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