Senator Susan Collins: Time to act on sexual assault in the military
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) calls on Congress to support fundamental reform:
A senior Army officer, accused of sexually assaulting a subordinate, agrees to plead guilty to lesser charges.
Another, a lieutenant colonel in the Army, is suspended and under investigation for allegedly groping a female lawyer who worked for him. Even more troubling is that this particular incident is said to have occurred during a sexual assault legal conference – and the man is the Army’s top prosecutor for sexual assault cases.
Unfortunately, these are just the latest examples of a sexual assault crisis in our nation’s military. According to a Pentagon report, nearly 3,200 cases of sexual assault in the military were reported in 2012, yet the true number may be six times higher. As many as one in three women leaving military service report that they experienced some form of sexual trauma while serving. And while 40 percent of sexual assault allegations in civilian life are prosecuted, the number in the military is an appallingly low 8 percent.
