But Congress has the power to help solve it.
By Alexander Stockton Video Journalist, Opinion |
What if I told you that there was a massive taxpayer-funded "corporation" in which department managers have control over whether rape cases involving their employees go to trial? You probably wouldn't believe that such a place could exist. But it does. |
It is called the United States military. |
The U.S. military is run by an archaic set of rules that give commanders absolute discretion over their troops. This line of authority — what we know as the chain of command — is seen as key to success on the battlefield and to maintaining good order and discipline within the ranks. But when it comes to adjudicating crimes like sexual assault, it is partial and unjust. |
An estimated 20,000 sexual assaults occur in the military each year, but a mere 0.5 percent of them result in a conviction. One reason for this abysmal rate of accountability is the chain of command's free rein to impede justice. Commanders frequently sweep cases under the rug, side with the perpetrator, and intimidate and retaliate against the survivors. |
In an Opinion video guest essay published Tuesday, several people with personal experience in this area argue for removing sexual assault cases from the chain of command. We hear from a Republican senator and former combat commander, a former chief prosecutor for the Air Force, and a veteran who says she survived several sexual assaults while enlisted. |
The video journalist Lucy King and I spent the past year reporting on the problem to produce this video. We've spoken with lawmakers, experts and many survivors. There is currently a bill in Congress — championed by Senator Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican featured in our video — that aims to solve this issue by creating an independent office to prosecute nonmilitary crimes like rape. But stiff opposition from two key senators, the Rhode Island Democrat Jack Reed and the Oklahoma Republican James Inhofe, is blocking it in the Senate. |
In addition to the serious and lasting impact on those who have been sexually assaulted, there's another consequence of this crisis: The nation is losing great soldiers. |
Mei-Ling Jerez, the veteran featured in our video, ultimately left the military because of the multiple assaults she endured and the lack of justice or accountability around them. She has PTSD — from the sexual assaults, not the battlefield. |
Col. Don Christensen, the former chief prosecutor for the Air Force, also left the military because of his disappointment with how the chain of command handled sexual assault cases. He'd spent years trying to prosecute these crimes, but encountered stonewalling, intimidation and threats. Christensen believed he'd be able to better support the troops from outside the system. |
"I love the Air Force. I'm third generation," Christensen says in the video. "But I knew I had to leave. The chain of command military justice process is not delivering justice." |
Congress has until July to pass the bill or it will move to the Armed Services Committee, where Reed and Inhofe will have an opportunity to water it down, or even quash it. Service members risk their lives to defend their country. It's time to ensure they are protected, too. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
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