Military Sexual Assault Victims May Get Amnesty for Minor Crimes
US News and World Report writes:
Imagine you’re a 20-year-old member of the armed forces who has just endured the trauma of a sexual assault or rape. You’re sitting down in the office of a military criminal investigative division to tell a special agent about the horrific incident, in keeping with the Department of Defense’s protocols. You begin with the details of what happened that evening: Perhaps you were drinking first, or had smoked marijuana. Or perhaps the incident began as consensual sex while you and your attacker were stationed in Baghdad or Kabul.
Then the special agent, tasked with looking into this heinous crime and coordinating your participation in the subsequent investigation, closes his notebook and informs you he needs to read you your rights.
“It’s one of the most difficult things we can do,” says Russell Strand, formerly with the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division. “I speak for all the agents I’ve worked with and talked to.”
