Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma News
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month April 2023
Friday, May 5, 2023 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - International
The month of April is “National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.” Sexual assault and harassment remain systemically prevalent in many institutions including the United States military. Long-term prevention measures are needed to effect socio-cultural attitudinal change as well as ensure safe federal work environments where employees can report incidences without fear of reprisal and/or retaliation and receive just knowledgeable and legal representation.
This link includes extensive “Military Sexual Assault” and “Military Sexual Trauma’” references.
This ongoing campaign intends to raise public awareness about sexual violence in our nation and its prevalence within federal, state, public and private institutions and businesses and societal subcultures.
Conference Sparks Dialogue on Preventing Sexual Violence at Service Academies, Colleges
Thursday, April 4, 2019 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - National
Military service secretaries and service academy superintendents along with other higher education academic leaders and experts met at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland this week. The intent of the conference was “to find ways to prevent sexual violence and to share initiatives that have shown promise.” This “National Discussion on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment at America’s Colleges, Universities, and Service Academies” is the first-ever national meeting addressing this subject. Over 300 attended, about 10 percent of the 1200 invited universities were represented.
In January 2019, the results of a survey showed a 50 percent rise in claims of sexual assault and harassment at the military service academies.
Examining the Role of the Commander in Sexual Assault
Tuesday, April 2, 2019 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - National
On April 2, 2019, the House Armed Services Committee hosted two panels composed of military justice reform advocates, military sexual assault survivors and military Judge Advocates. Congresswoman Jackie Spier made opening remarks, noting that the number of reported sexual assaults in the military continues to rise significantly while prosecutions and convictions have decreased. The American Bar Association along with Protect Our Defenders reinforced their position that until the decision to prosecute is made by independent attorneys and not military commanders with convening authority, there will not be an impartial military justice system free of retaliation and wrongful discharges for military personnel.
RAND Report (Volume 5): Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Military
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - National
RAND released its 2018 “Volume 5. Estimates for Installation- and Command-Level Risk of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment from the 2014 RAND Military Workplace Study.” RAND’s report summary follows:
In early 2014, the Department of Defense Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office asked the RAND National Defense Research Institute to conduct an independent assessment of the rates of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and gender discrimination in the military — an assessment last conducted in 2012 by the Department of Defense using the Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members. The resulting RAND Military Workplace Study invited close to 560,000 U.S. service members to participate in a survey fielded in August and September of 2014. This volume presents survey estimates of how risk of sexual assault and sexual harassment varies across military installations and major commands. The researchers find that risk of sexual assault and harassment varies across installations and commands and that these differences are sometimes large. Patterns in these risk estimates offer important insights into the types of environments where service members are most or least likely to be sexually assaulted or harassed. The results may also provide clues about the conditions that contribute to sexual assault risk and about strategies that could be used to prevent sexual assault and harassment.
Senator Demands Probe of Website That Promotes Nude Photos of Female Servicemembers
Monday, October 29, 2018 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - National
Kris Goldsmith, a researcher for Vietnam Veterans of America, alerted Senator Claire McCaskill to the hot military girls.com website and spinoff Facebook pages that appeared to depict identifiable nude and clothed female servicemembers, mostly from the U.S. military. The domain for the site which was registered in 2001 is in Canada and it appears the internet protocol address has changed 24 times. Goldsmith expressed concern that the women could be tracked down and blackmailed. Senator McCaskill requested the Pentagon Inspector General initiate an investigation. Although the military is making reforms regarding social media, this is another in a series of similar sites that contribute to a culture of harassment.
Military Sexual Assault: A Detailed Timeline of Sex Crimes in the Military (1979-2017)
Wednesday, August 1, 2018 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - National
Andrea Januta published this timeline in The War Horse. She states: “This ongoing project examines nearly four decades of military sexual trauma in the U.S. military in an effort to understand the broader context in which the Defense Department has allowed a culture of sexual harassment and abuse to continue. Using government documents, historical records, news of the time, and additional reporting, this timeline illustrates not just the scandals, but the public, legislative, and military responses, as well as the evolution of the Defense Department's policy regarding sexual abuse.
We need your help to chronicle the history of military sexual trauma in the U.S. Armed Forces and how it's been addressed by the U.S. Defense Department.
Contact newstips@thewarhorse.org or message us on Facebook with tips, articles, and documents about scandals you think should be in this history.”
President’s 2018 “National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month” Proclamation
Sunday, April 1, 2018 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - National
President Trump released his 2018 “National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month” proclamation.
Hundreds of Lewd Photos of Female Servicemembers Discovered in Dropbox Folder
Monday, March 19, 2018 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - International
On March 9, 2018, Alexa Liautaud of Vice News reported:
“The (Dropbox) folder is the latest example of an ongoing problem with revenge porn and online harassment in the U.S. military, one that persists even a year after the revelation of thousands of nude photos of service members shared in a Facebook group called Marines United caused a major scandal. VICE News reported in February on the existence of dozens of informal military social media groups where members continue to share nude photos and make derogatory comments about women, often alongside more banal posts about military life.”
The Department of Defense is again investigating a social media site for posting hundreds of lewd photographs of female servicemembers. The Pentagon confirmed activity on that the site, “Hoes Hoin” likely crosses all military services. The December 2018 National Defense Authorization Act made this activity illegal, approving “court-martial punishment for servicemembers who engaged in the “wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images,” typically nude photographs shared without the subject’s permission, often called revenge porn.”
Former Head of Marines Sexual Assault and Prevention Unit Joins Protect Our Defenders as CEO In Response to Marines United Scandal
Tuesday, January 9, 2018 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - National
Scott Jensen, retired Marine Corps colonel and Marine Corps sexual assault and prevention unit, recently became the Chief Executive Officer for Protect Our Defenders, a nonprofit human rights organization advocating for servicewomen and men. They are focused on military justice reform to ensure an unbiased, more transparent federal agency legal system that operates independently from the civil legal system. They continue to challenge the Department of Defense’s (the largest employer in the world) efforts to recognize, deter, and litigate sexual assault and harassment within their ranks and to protect victims/survivors of sexual assault and harassment from retaliation and retribution. Protect Our Defenders offers pro bono legal services
Protect Our Defenders Released 2017 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military
Wednesday, March 1, 2017 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - National
Protect Our Defenders (POD) recently released its 2017 Annual Report, “Harnessing This Tipping Point Moment.” POD states:
“2017 was a pivotal year in the movement to hold perpetrators accountable for sexual violence. More and more survivors came forward and the public listened in a way it hadn’t in the past. As the #MeToo movement grew, so did our national outrage. From Hollywood to the halls of Congress, sexual predators were beginning to at last be exposed and held to account. These institutions had no choice but to respond to public pressure. But while the culture of silence and denial was broken for many, military service members are legally silenced, giving up their freedoms to protect ours.”
POD, established on 2011, is a human rights organization founded and dedicated solely to raise awareness and prevent sexual harassment and violence within the United States military. They pursue change through individual advocacy, public education, and congressional legislative actions.