“One week before my unit was scheduled to return back to the United States, I was raped by another service member that had worked with our team,” former Army Technician Rebekah Havrilla told the U.S. Senate last week. “Initially, I chose not to do a report of any kind because I had no faith in my chain of command. … The unit climate was extremely sexist and hostile in nature toward women.”

About 20 percent of military women report experiencing Military Sexual Trauma (MST), according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. This includes unwanted sexual touching or grabbing, threatening or offensive remarks about a person’s body or sexual activities, and threatening and unwelcome sexual advances. By comparison, only one in 100 men report MST.

Two Service Women’s Action Network staff members testified this month before the Senate on behalf of thousands of military service women who have been victims of sexual harassment and assault. This historic hearing marked the first time in almost 10 years that the Senate examined these outstanding issues.

SWAN Executive Director Anu Bhagwati, a former Marine Captain, and SWAN Outreach and Education Coordinator Havrilla shared their personal stories before the Senate.

Despite the large number of sexual harassment and assault cases reported to the VA, Bhagwati and Havrilla said that little has been done to prevent MST from occurring and that reports of sexual harassment, assault and rape, such as Havrilla’s, are frequently “swept under the rug,” says Bhagwati.

Bhagwati detailed to the Senate how she once attempted to file an investigation of an offending officer—and immediately was given a gag order by her commanding officer. She then “lived in fear of retaliation and violence” from the offender and her chain of command, while the offender went on to be promoted.

“Sexual violence is not just a ‘women’s issue.’ It is widely misunderstood by military personnel, who have been overexposed to a culture of victim-blaming and rape mythology, where victims are considered responsible for their own assaults, and perpetrators are simply naïve young service members who might have had a lapse of professional judgment,” Bhagwati said.

Bhagwati and Havrilla urged policymakers to:

1. Professionalize the military criminal-justice system: Authority over criminal cases should be conducted by trained prosecutors, as commanding officers cannot be truly impartial and unbiased.
2. Open civil courts to military victims: Currently, military persons are not allowed to bring claims for discrimination or negligence; therefore, the military is not held liable for failing to prevent or reprimand sexual harassment or assault infractions.
3. Ensure survivors’ VA claims get accepted: The Ruth Moore Act, not yet passed into law, could help in providing survivors of sexual assault with effective treatments for conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder.

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The NDAA is an enormous bill that specifies the budget and expenditures of the Department of Defense (DOD). It also contains sections that deal with military issues ranging from the total number of troops to retiree benefits, and everything in between. It is one of the primary vehicles used by Congress to provide oversight and mandate change within the military. Every year, SWAN partners with key members of Congress to provide bipartisan legislative recommendations to both the House and Senate to improve the welfare of service women and women veterans.

This year, SWAN was able to help introduce into the bill a record number of provisions based on our policy agenda, chief among them to improve the way the military handles sexual assault and sexual harassment in the ranks. Other provisions were also included that improve health care for service women and military families. Specifically, the law now provides for:

• Prohibiting the military from recruiting anyone convicted of a sex offense

• Mandatory separation of convicted sex offenders

• Insurance coverage for abortions in cases of rape or incest for service women and military family members

• Retention of restricted report documentation for 50 years if so desired by the victim

• The creation of “Special Victims Units” to improve investigation, prosecution and victim support in connection with child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault cases

• Allowing victims to return to active duty after separation to help prosecute sex offenders

• The creation of an independent review panel comprised of civilian and military members that will closely examine the way that the DOD investigates, prosecutes, and adjudicates sexual assaults

• Required sexual assault prevention training in pre-command and command courses for officers

• Improved data collection and reporting by the military on sexual assault and sexual harassment cases

• Annual command climate assessment surveys to track individual attitudes toward sexual assault and sexual harassment

• A review of unrestricted sexual assault reports and the nature of any subsequent separations of victims who made those reports

• Notification to service members of the options available for the correction of military records due to any retaliatory personnel action after making a report of sexual assault or sexual harassment

• Requirement for DOD to establish a policy for comprehensive sexual harassment prevention and response

• Language that will allow better oversight and tracking of DOD’s implementation of sexual assault provisions from prior Defense Authorizations in order to ensure they are being enforced properly

Legislating reform of DOD policies can be a difficult, complicated and sometimes painfully slow process, and is only one of several tools SWAN uses to make institutional change happen. Ensuring those policies are properly implemented by the services and fairly practiced in individual units “where the rubber meets the road” is a continuous process for us. Calls from active duty troops and veterans on our Helpline continue to inform and guide our work. We are grateful to be able to provide help to service members and veterans in need. We are also thankful for our incredible coalition of military, veterans and civil rights organizations, the members of Congress who have partnered with us, and each one of you who have supported us this year. In order to eradicate sexual assault and sexual harassment we must continue to work together to transform military culture. The passage of the 2013 NDAA is another critical step in moving the military one step closer to change.

As we move forward with this year’s policy and legislative agenda, and prepare for our second annual Summit on Military Sexual Violence, SWAN will continue to hold our civilian and military leadership accountable for the welfare of our nation’s service members and veterans. We will continue to fight for changes in the execution of military justice for victims of sexual assault, service members’ access to civil courts, and comprehensive reform of VA policy regarding “Military Sexual Trauma” compensation claims. With your support, we look forward to continued success as we begin work on the 2014 NDAA.

* This article is republished with permission from Service Women’s Action Network

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