Woman to Lead Air Force Training After Sex Scandal
Paul J. Weber reports for the Associated Press on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy...
The Enemy Within
James Kitfield reports in this cover story for the National Journal, an in-depth exploration of the problem of military sexual...
Tailhook Sexual Assault Survivor Wants McKeon’s Ear
Mark Archuleta reports for KHTS 1220 on Protect Our Defenders Advocacy Board Member Paula Coughlin-Puopolo: Coughlin is one of the...
Air Force Instructor in Texas Acquitted on Sex Charge
Jim Forsyth reports for Reuters on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: Meanwhile, the House Armed Services Committee confirmed on...
House Committee to Hold Hearings on Lackland
Stewart M. Powell reports for The San Antonio Express-News on Protect Our Defenders Honorary Chair Rep. Jackie Speier: “An open...
Editorial: Set Congressional Hearings Date
The San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board writes: Seventy-eight members of Congress have signed a letter calling for congressional hearings on...
Statement from Protect Our Defenders in Response to House Armed Services Committee Announcing Lackland Hearings
Statement from Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish on the HASC announcement of future Lackland hearings: The House Armed Services...
Editorial: Comments are an Insult to Recruits
The San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board writes: To be clear, this is a problem more serious than just a few...
Lawmaker’s Secret Lackland Visit Upsets Advocates
Karisa King and Sig Christenson report for San Antonio Express-News on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: “It’s disheartening that...
McKeon Expresses Confidence In Air Force Base Sexual Assault Internal Investigation
Mark Archuleta reports for Hometown Station AM 1220 on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: “His statements that only a...
Statement on McKeon’s Visit to Lackland Air Force Base
Statement from Nancy Parrish, President of Protect Our Defenders, on Rep. Buck McKeon’s Visit to Lackland Air Force Base: It’s...
A Phone Call To Protect Our Lackland Trainees
Today, Rep. Buck McKeon, the House Armed Services Committee Chairman, returned to Congress from his summer recess. More than 15,000...
McKeon Visits Lackland Air Force Base to Discuss Basic Training Sex Scandal
Jeremy Herb reports for The Hill on Protect Our Defenders: Activists have criticized McKeon for not doing enough to address...
House Chairman Visits Lackland AFB Reeling From Scandal
The Associated Press reports in USA Today: Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon spent three hours at the base, where he met...
Rape and the Ethics of Adultery, or How the Military Hides its Rape Problem
Matt Collins reports for Tom Ricks’s Foreign Policy: Still, there is more that could be done to reform the military’s...
Col. Axelbank Exits Lackland for the Pentagon
Sig Christenson reports for the San Antonio Express-News on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: “The abuse at Lackland and...
Trainer’s Trial is Put Off; No Explanation
Sig Christenson reports for the San Antonio Express-News: A basic-training instructor’s trial on charges of having sex with a young...
Editorial: Military Needs a Battle Plan to Stop Sexual Assaults
The New York Daily News Editorial Board writes about reform needed to stop military sexual assaults and mentions Protect Our...
Video: Veterans Bike Across 12 States Including Kansas City
KSHB Action News reports on Colleen Bushnell’s Long Road Home bike ride, supported by Protect Our Defenders:: The Long Road...
Majority of Sexual Assaults and Rapes Committed in Military in 2011 Were Against Men
Heidi Evans of the NY Daily News reports on Protect Our Defenders Board Members Advocacy Board member Geri Lynn Matthews...
San Antonio Express Editorial: Abuses Call for Hearings in Congress
The San Antonio News-Express Editorial Board writes: The abuse of military authority to seek or force sexual favors from trainees...
Navy Vet: Policies on Sexual Assaults Must Improve
Craig Currier of The Antelope Valley Press covers Protect Our Defenders Advocacy Board Member, Jenny McClendon’s story and the fight...
Why Pentagon’s Progress Against Sexual Assault Is So Slow
Anna Mulrine reports for the Christian Science Monitor : Today, failure to prosecute some prominent sexual-assault cases is a key...
Cross-Country Bike Ride Fights Trauma of War
Nancy Gaarder reports for the Omaha World-Herald on Colleen Bushnell’s Long Road Home bike ride, supported by Protect Our Defenders:...
Rep. Jackie Speier: Assaults in Armed Forces Must Stop Immediately
Protect Our Defenders Honorary Chair Rep. Jackie Speier writes for the New York Daily News: Women, and men, join the...
San Antonio Express News: Air Force Finds More Trainers, Victims in Sex Scandal
Sig Christenson and Karisa King report in the San Antonio Express News reports an increase in the number of victims...
Huffington Post: Lackland Sexual Abuse Survivor Bikes Cross-Country to Deliver Petitions to Rep. Buck McKeon
Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish writes in the Huffington Post: We hope Congress acts before Colleen arrives in our...
The Latest on Lackland
News has been breaking almost daily this summer about the Lackland Air Force Base sexual abuse scandal, and to help...
Editorial: Hearings Needed in Lackland Scandal
Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish writes in an op-ed for the San Antonio Express News: What happened during those...
Rape Victims Advocate on Akin: It Was a Huge Kick to the Gut
Diana Zoga reports for KMOV St Louis News about Protect Our Defenders Advocacy Board member Terri Odom: Odom was raped...
Perception is Reality: What’s really going on at Lackland?
Guest blog post submitted by Jennifer Norris. Jennifer Norris is on the Advocacy Board of Protect Our Defenders and is the Maine Director of the Military Rape Crisis Center. She served in the US Air Force and survived military rape and sexual assault.
For those that have spent time in the military, you have at one point or another heard the phrase "Perception is Reality". This simple phrase rings so true given how the United States Air Force is currently handling the Sex Abuse/Rape scandal at the Lackland AFB Basic Training facility. Since watching this "scandal" unfold, I have witnessed a series of unfortunate missteps that I feel are most likely hurting the American public's perception of the military, which may have negative impacts on the recruitment numbers as well. We don't want that, if the Air Force is genuinely trying to clean house. We want to help civilians understand what is happening in order to educate them about the risks and the process.
Editorial: Reduce Military Rapes with Open Hearings
Lee Rogers writes for The Santa Clarita Valley Signal: A nonprofit group, Protect Our Defenders, is leading the charge calling...
10,000 Petition Signers Want Congressional Hearing on Sex Scandal at Texas Base
Tiffany Walden reports for Medill News Service at Northwestern University: Investigators say dozens of female recruits were sexually assaulted or...
Vets Ride to Explain Post-Military Life Problems
Milo Dailey reports for The Butte County Post on Colleen Bushnell’s Long Road Home bike ride, supported by Protect Our...
Video: Jennifer Beals and Nancy Parrish Join HuffPost Live
Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish featured on HuffPost Live: Actress Jennifer Beals joined a HuffPost community discussion Wednesday afternoon...
Sexual Assault Cases Flood Military Courts
Sarah Blansett and Michael Hoffman report for Military.com: Military leaders’ awareness programs designed to curb the rise in sexual assault...
Huffington Post: Glenn Palmer, Air Force Commander, Relieved Over Lackland Base Sex Scandal
Mark J. Weber and Lolita C. Baldor report in the Huffington Post: Officials tell The Associated Press that the Air...
Military Sexual Assault Victims Meet With McKeon, Ask For Investigation
Mark Archuleta reports for KHTS AM 1220, Congressman Buck McKeon’s hometown news, on Protect Our Defenders: Military sexual assault survivors...
Air Force Relieves Basic Training Commander Over Widening Lackland Sex Scandal
Paul J. Weber and Lolita C. Baldor report for Newser on Protect Our Defenders Advocacy Board Member Jennifer Norris: “If...
Military Rape Survivors Demand Congressional Investigation
August 1, 2012: Paula Coughlin-Puopolo, Tailhook whistleblower, returns to DC to demand Rep. Buck McKeon and the House Armed Services...
Local Vets Speak Out on Military Sexual Assault
Max Freund reports for the Gazette: Every day for six months in the early ’90s, Joan had daily bouts with...
Inside Closed Lackland Briefing
The San Antonio Current’s Newsmonger reports on Protect Our Defenders Honorary Chair Congresswoman Jackie Speier: “I asked a series of...
Army General: Don’t Hobble Commanders in Sex Assault Cases
Lauren French reports for Reuters on Protect Our Defenders Honorary Chair Congresswoman Jackie Speier: The House Armed Services Committee held...
KRTV: Long Road Home Project War Veterans Share Their Stories
Tara Grimes reports on Colleen Bushnell’s Long Road Home bike ride, supported by Protect Our Defenders: Five war veterans are...
Rep. Speier Calls For Review Of Military Sexual Assault Hotlines
Statement from Representative Jackie Speier: “As part of your commitment to our troops and eradicating sexual assault in the military,...
McKeon Receives Petitions Asking For Changes In Military Sexual Assault Cases
Carol Rock reports for KHTS AM 1220 on Protect Our Defenders: Members of Protect Our Defenders visited the offices of...
San Antonio News-Express: Abuses Call for Inquiry by Congress
The San Antonio News-Express Editorial Board writes: Congress would be acting well within its authority to find out what went...
The Bob Edwards Show: An ‘Occupational Hazard’ – Rape in the Military
The Bob Edwards Show presents a special series, “An ‘Occupational Hazard’: Rape in the Military” featuring Protect Our Defenders Advocacy...
Sexual Assault Survivors Criticize Sentence Given to Lackland Instructor
Jennifer Hlad reports for Stars and Stripes on Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish: Parrish’s group organized the Thursday meeting...
Bloomberg: Senator Ends Bid to Block Air Force Nominee Over Assaults
David Lerman and Tony Capaccio report for Bloomberg News on Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders, a victims support group,...