National Journal: For Military Sexual-Assault Survivors, Proposed Reforms Are Only a Start
Brian Lewis, Protect Our Defenders Advocacy Committee member is featured in this National Journal article:
“I don’t know if one of those bills would have prevented my attack,” she said. “But I feel certain that the way I was mistreated by the military justice system, and most importantly by my chain of command, that it would have been different if there had been a law that said you have to handle every sexual-assault complaint immediately and hand it over to a third-party investigating unit.”
Lewis said that his commanders’ lack of interest in his case—there was never an investigation or prosecution—became unbearable. Meanwhile, he found out that his attacker had raped at least one other person before him, and he felt vulnerable in the ship’s close quarters. “There are only so many places to hide on a 600-foot-long gray floaty thingy,” Lewis said.
