Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma News
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month April 2023
Saturday, April 1, 2023 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
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 work environments where employees can report incidences without fear of reprisal and/or retaliation.
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.
Report to Governor Recommends Maine National Guard Sex Assault Responses
Saturday, December 31, 2022 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
Governor Janet Mills established the Advisory Council on Military Sexual Trauma as one of several responses to a Bangor Daily News series that exposed a culture on the Army side that is permissive of sexual abuse, retaliates against soldiers who come forward and drives women out of the service. Major Gen. Douglas Farnham of the Maine Guard had requested outside assistance in March 2022.
The BDN’s three-part series, “Unguarded,” tells the stories of soldiers sexually assaulted and harassed within the ranks of the Maine Army National Guard while lax enforcement of policies, little oversight, and retaliation against those who complained continued for more than a decade. See this link for related articles: https://www.bangordailynews.com/unguarded/
Panel to help Maine National Guard improve assault response
Saturday, December 31, 2022 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
News Center Maine, March 22, 2022:
‘ Gov. Janet Mills on Thursday established a permanent advisory council to improve the Maine National Guard’s responses to sexual assault and harassment and to ensure assault survivors are connected to available resources.
The 10-member council is charged with making recommendations by Dec. 1 about how the Maine National Guard can improve its handling of assault and harassment within its ranks, with an emphasis on coordination with law enforcement authorities.’
Top military official seeks outside probe of Maine National Guard’s handling of sexual assault cases (March 2022)
Thursday, December 29, 2022 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
On March 24, 2022, Callie Ferguson reported: ‘ Maine’s top military official has asked for an outside investigation of how the Maine National Guard handles sexual assault cases, Gov. Janet Mills said Thursday. She also noted: ‘ Also on Thursday, Mills, who oversees the guard as governor, signed an executive order establishing a permanent advisory council to recommend ways the guard can improve its handling of sexual assault and harassment, especially in collaboration with local law enforcement. Its first report is due to the governor on Dec. 1.’. See article and associated links for further information.
News: Protect Our Defenders
Tuesday, June 28, 2022 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
The "Protect Our Defenders News Blog" posts news relative to their day-to-day work with the "women and men in uniform who have been raped or sexually assaulted by fellow service members. Protect Our Defenders seeks to fix the military training, investigation and adjudication systems related to sexual violence and harassment--systems that often re-victimize assault survivors by blaming them while failing to hold perpetrators accountable."
They work with survivors, have an in-depth understanding of military process and procedure, and respectfully work with others to promote change from within. It is their belief that "it is a human right to work and live in a safe and respectful environment and fostering this environment within the military’s ranks will make the military more effective. Whether advocating for reform, filing a legal brief, providing legal support, or coordinating peer support for survivors; each project and activity manifests POD’s core values."
Nancy Parrish, Founder & CEO, is a human rights activist, philanthropist, and investor. POD President, Don Christensen, Colonel, USAF (Ret.) served as chief prosecutor for the United States Air Force between 2010 and 2014. He served as a trial counsel, defense counsel or military judge for every year of his 23-year career in the United States Air Force. His full bio is posted on the POD site.
Conference Sparks Dialogue on Preventing Sexual Violence at Service Academies, Colleges
Thursday, April 4, 2019 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
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 - ME
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.
National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month (April 2019)
Monday, April 1, 2019 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
The month of April is “National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month.” It is a campaign to raise public awareness about sexual violence and educate communities on how to prevent it. In addition to the resources posted in “WomenVetsUSA Maine Events,” there are other national resources linked on the “WomenVetsUSA National Home Page News Ticker.”
RAND Report: Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the Military (Volume 5)
Saturday, October 6, 2018 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
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.
President’s 2018 “National Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month” Proclamation
Sunday, April 1, 2018 | Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma - ME
President Trump released his 2019 “National Sexual Assault Awareness Month” proclamation.