Huffington Post: Air Force Drops Discharge Of Sexual Assault Victim – After Story Breaks
Protect Our Defenders President Nancy Parrish is featured in this Huffington Post article:
According to a Pentagon report released earlier this year, 62 percent of servicemen and servicewomen who reported sexual assault say they faced some kind of retaliation afterward from the chain of command. Protect Our Defenders, a sexual assault victim advocacy group that has been helping Bridges with her case, said the incident underscores the need for Congress to pass a bill like that of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), which would remove military sexual assault cases from the chain of command.
“Unfortunately, what happened to Airman Bridges is something we see far too often in the military — the victim of sexual harassment and assault is punished for coming forward,” Nancy Parrish, president of Protect Our Defenders, said in a statement. “We call on the military to conduct an investigation into the retaliation that Bridges has faced. Our brave sons and daughters, brothers and sisters that risk their lives for us deserve to receive justice equal to the civilians they protect. We need a professional, independent, impartial military justice system, rather than leaving the authority to prosecute and adjudicate in the hands of an often biased chain of command.”
