STATEMENT: Protect Our Defenders Responds to Pentagon Report on Sexual Harassment in the Military
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 16, 2013
Contact: Brian Purchia, , brian@protectourdefenders.com
*** STATEMENT ***
PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS RESPONDS TO PENTAGON REPORT ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE MILITARY
Washington DC – Yesterday, the DoD released a report on sexual harassment in the Armed Forces showing that in 2013, 1,366 formal and informal reports of sexual harassment were made across all branches of service, including the DoD. According to DoD’s own numbers, commanders deemed “substantiated” less than 60% of complaints. Of those complaints that were substantiated, the majority of offenders only received some form of administrative punishment, such as a Letter of Reprimand.
According to the anonymous Workplace and Gender Relations Survey released by DoD last year, 23% of women and 4% of men experienced sexual harassment—nearly 47,000 women and 48,000 men—in 2012.
Nancy Parrish, President of Protect Our Defenders, release the following statement:
“These reports represent one percent of the estimated number of people who actually experience harassment according to the Pentagon in 2012. This is abysmal. It is clear from DoD’s own numbers that sexual harassment, along with other sexual crimes, is vastly underreported and often goes unpunished. As we have seen with victims of rape and sexual assault in the military, service members who experience crude and offensive behavior, or unwanted sexual advances, appear to have little faith that reporting will lead to justice and fear retaliation. As a result, the vast majority suffer in silence.
“It is no mystery why so many service members would opt not to report: the numbers released yesterday by DoD reflect the results of command-directed investigations, where commanders—not an objective third party—determine whether a complaint made by a member of their unit has merit and is worth an inquiry. It is an understatement to say that service members are helpless when and if their own chain of command is responsible for such behavior. This system of reporting and lack of accountability discourages victims from coming forward, and protects perpetrators from facing justice. Your boss, or your boss’s boss, should not be the person determining the validity of your complaint against a fellow service member.
“Through our Pro Bono Network, we continue to hear daily from service members who face degrading and hostile work environments—from women being called sluts, whores, and “WMs” (“Walking Mattress”), to pornographic images condoned in the workplace, to fighter pilot songs that perpetuate violent hate speech against women.
“In order to fully address the pervasive culture of misogyny and sexism within the ranks, these complaints must be investigated, and if appropriate prosecuted and adjudicated, by objective third parties, not the accused’s commander.”
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Salon: Pentagon’s pathetic victory lap: Why its supposed military rape “solution” is just spin
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/05/zodiac-killer-earl-van-best-mugshot.html?mid=google
Stars and Stripes: Sexual harassment, not assault, is focus of new DOD report
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/sexual-harassment-not-assault-is-focus-of-new-dod-report-1.283317
Associated Press: Military fired, disciplined nearly 500 for sexual harassment last fiscal year
http://www.pressherald.com/news/Military_issues_report_on_sexual_harassment_.html
Military Times: 1,366 sexual harassment complaints in 2013
Huffington Post: Investigate Air Force for Openly Violent, Sexist and Hostile Environment to Women
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-parrish/air-force-sexual-assault_b_2129880.html
About Protect Our Defenders: Protect Our Defenders is a human rights organization. We seek to honor, support and give voice to the brave women and men in uniform who have been sexually assaulted while serving their country, and re-victimized by the military adjudication system – a system that often blames the victim and fails to prosecute the perpetrator. Learn more about Protect Our Defenders at www.protectourdefenders.com or on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ProtectOurDefenders or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ProtectRDfnders.
Protect Our Defenders partners with Attorney Susan Burke, Burke PLLC to advance lawsuits filed against the DoD and service academies for repeatedly ignoring rape, sexual assault and harassment, failing to prosecute perpetrators and retaliating against the victim.
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