| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 24, 2012 |
CONTACT: Brian Purchia brian@protectourdefenders.com |
***PRESS RELEASE***
MORE THAN 7,000 ADVOCATES DEMAND REP. BUCK MCKEON OPEN INVESTIGATION ABOUT LACKLAND SEXUAL ABUSE SCANDAL
Protect Our Defenders launches Twitter campaign (#AskBuck) asking the Chairman of House Armed Services Committee, Rep. McKeon how many more soldiers need to be sexually assaulted before Congress investigates and legislates reform
Washington DC – Today, Protect Our Defenders announced that more than 7,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that the Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Los Angeles County) hold a congressional hearing about the criminal scandal at Lackland Air Force Base. The online effort launched on Causes.com and Protect Our Defenders by Tailhook whistleblower Paula Coughlin-Puopolo has gained momentum as people hear the horrific details from victims sexually assaulted by their superiors with nowhere to turn. At least 31 female trainees at the Air Force’s sole recruiting center in San Antonio, Texas say they were raped or sexually assaulted by 12 instructors.
Staff Sgt. Luis Walker’s conviction on Friday does nothing to fix the epidemic of sexual assault in our military. The military justice system for rape and sexual assault cases is overwhelmingly weighted in favor of the criminal suspect. Last year, there were an estimated 19,000 military rapes and sexual assaults, but only 3,200 victims reported the attacks and out of those only 191 cases resulted in court martial conviction.
“How many serial sexual assault trials in the military is it going to take before Congress does something real and effective to remove the reporting of assaults from of the chain of command and into a third party,” said the former Naval Aviator Paula Coughlin-Puopolo.
The officer who would be the Air Force’s new Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark Welsh III told Congress last week that the Air Force is “not doing enough” to address the epidemic of sexual assaults in our military, saying, “what we have been doing is not working.” The Department of Veteran Affairs estimates that over half a million veterans have experienced military sexual trauma.
“The epidemic of sexual assaults in our military has gone on for decades. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has promised to fix this criminal behavior, but nothing has changed,” said Nancy Parrish, President of Protect Our Defenders. “Every single day, Protect Our Defenders is receiving new stories from our brave men and women in uniform that have been sexually assaulted, but have nowhere to turn. It is very apparent this crisis needs to be addressed legislatively. Hearings are part of this process.”
78 members of Congress along with the former Naval Aviator, Paula Coughlin-Puopolo are asking Rep. McKeon to open an investigation about Lackland, but there has been no response. Though, HASC Vice Chairman Mac Thornberry is quoted as saying, “My understanding is there is no evidence of a widespread problem.”
Today, Protect Our Defenders launched a Twitter campaign (#AskBuck) asking Rep. McKeon how many more soldiers need to be sexually assaulted before Congress investigates Lackland and legislates fundamental reforms.
.@BuckMcKeon how many soldiers need to be sexually assaulted before Congress acts? Open a #Lackland hearing http://bit.ly/O0dpyb #AskBuck https://twitter.com/ProtectRDfnders/status/227755730533511168
“Causes exists to empower anyone to build a grassroots movement for change,” said Syd Fleischer, Causes Community Director. “We feel privileged to be a platform for engaged citizens like Paula Coughlin-Puopolo to get out their message and rally others in support of their cause.”
The Department of Defense estimates that only 13.5% of sexual assaults in 2010 were reported. And of those few that did report, over 75% wouldn’t do so again if given the chance. Why? Because victims are often blamed, fear career ending retaliation, and are required to report their assault by fellow soldiers to a superior, not law enforcement or medical personnel.
Over the past year Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced several half measures to address the crisis of military sexual trauma, like bumping the reporting of rape and sexual assault further up the chain of command. But, this does little to address the problem. Many survivors have made it abundantly clear that senior commanders are just as capable of covering up assaults and frequently do. Commanders are incentivized to sweep problems under the rug as their careers can be adversely affected if a rape or sexual assault happens under their watch. And the DOD reports, “39% of women report that the perpetrator was a military person of higher rank and 23% indicated the offender was someone in their chain of command.”
The prevalence of rape in our military, the failure to prosecute perpetrators and the retaliation against the victim continues to undermine readiness, unit cohesion and morale.
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Paula Coughlin-Puopolo’s petition demanding Congress investigates the Lackland sexual assault scandal can be viewed here:
http://www.causes.com/causes/787301-protect-our-defendersfoundation/actions/1665842
http://action.protectourdefenders.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8040
Contact info for Rep. Buck McKeon’s office for comment:
Alissa McCurley, Alissa.McCurley@mail.house.gov 202-225-1956
About Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders is a human rights organization. We seek to honor, support and give voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been sexually assaulted while serving their country, and re-victimized by the military adjudication system – a system that often blames the victim and fails to prosecute the perpetrator. Learn more about Protect Our Defenders at www.protectourdefenders.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ProtectOurDefenders or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ProtectRDfnders.
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