Paula Coughlin: Sexual Assault Victims Have Waited Too Long for Justice
Protect Our Defenders Board of Directors Member Paula Coughlin writes in support of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s Military Justice Improvement Act in the US News and World Report’s Debate Club series:
When I first spoke out about my assault in 1991, during the so-called “Tailhook scandal,” I never imagined that I would still be repeating the same calls for reform today. It was more than two decades ago that I first spoke out about the culture of misogyny and impunity in our military. The crisis has only gotten worse.
The sexual assault epidemic persists because the justice system is not impartial, transparent or fair. Until our brave service members are afforded a justice system equal to the system afforded to the civilians they protect, this crisis will not end.
Protect Our Defenders hears daily from service members who have been dissuaded from reporting, retaliated against and harassed by their peers and their chain of command. Victims are often put through a grueling and humiliating justice process. Their credibility and motive is impeached. Their privacy is violated. Their rapists’ commander decides whether they will even have the possibility of justice.
