Last month, senators from both parties filibustered and effectively derailed the Military Justice Improvement Act. The act, proposed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand ’88, D-N.Y., sought to combat the military’s sexual assault epidemic by removing the prosecution from the military chain of command. The bill had co-sponsors as ideologically diverse as senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, but it ultimately fell a few votes short of the 60 needed to attain cloture.
The military’s sexual assault epidemic is particularly frightening because its members are generally expected to be more honorable, trustworthy and obedient of the law than the typical American. Yet the military has a high sexual assault rate. In 2012, a Department of Defense annual report found, an estimated 26,000 service members experienced unwanted sexual contact. Though the Senate passed a toned-down version, proposed by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., there are a few key provisions missing from her bill that were present in the MJIA.
Adjudicating sexual assault must be removed from the military chain of command because the current judicial process discourages survivors from seeking justice. In 2012, as the Sexual Assault Prevention Report Office found, less than 10 percent of military sexual assaults were reported, a decrease from previous years. Furthermore, because military commanders can decide whether to prosecute a case and to overturn a jury’s decision, a much smaller proportion of survivors are given the chance to pursue legal action. McCaskill’s bill partially strips commanders of this power, but the stigma against reporting remains.
The commander’s power to prevent or reverse justice is not the biggest problem. The most troubling element of the military’s sexual assault crisis is the widespread retaliation against survivors who choose to report their assaults. Those who have come forward are frequently harassed, threatened and ostracized. In fact, 62 percent of survivors who reported their sexual assault reported having experienced some form of retaliation. Often, these individuals end up leaving the military. For some survivors, the trauma of coping with their assault combined with a hostile, retaliatory environment is too much to handle. Further, some survivors are told leave the military by higher ups. Meanwhile, the perpetrators of these assaults, many of whom have authoritative positions over their victims, remain in the military unpunished.
Gillibrand’s bill would place a survivor’s quest for justice in the hands of an unbiased, independent military prosecutor. Such a prosecutor would have a strong and up-to-date understanding of legal issues surrounding sexual assault, which may not be the case for military commanders. Military commanders face a fundamental conflict of interest when approaching sexual assault cases that impedes nearly all hope for justice; the MJIA would alleviate that incompatibility and give survivors the chance for justice they deserve. As a result, more survivors would feel comfortable speaking out against their assailants, and we could slowly begin to erode the culture of sexism and silence that plagues the U.S. military.
Claims that removing the prosecution of sexual assault cases from the military chain of command would weaken the military’s power or undermine its hierarchical structure are baseless. In fact, MJIA would result in a fundamentally stronger military. Survivors of sexual assault could access the resources they need to overcome trauma and continue contributing effectively to our nation’s defense. Greater accountability for perpetrators of sexual assault would disincentivize these crimes, resulting in fewer victims and a military that is mentally and physically stronger. Finally, more individuals, particularly women, who might otherwise be uncomfortable with the military’s sexual assault culture, would enlist. Meanwhile, the fundamental principles of hierarchy and authority so central to the military would go untouched; there would be a stronger system in place to prevent and punish abuses of power.
Dartmouth students regularly witness the devastating effects of sexual assault, and it is often hard to imagine institutions with a more troubling sexual assault culture than the American university. However, the military has that culture, and the Senate turned a blind eye by blocking the Military Justice Improvement Act.
