Summary
In 2004, Congress directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a comprehensive policy to prevent and respond to sexual assaults involving servicemembers. Though not required to do so, the Coast Guard has established a similar policy. In response to congressional requests and Senate Report No. 110-77, GAO evaluated the extent to which DOD and the Coast Guard (1) have developed and implemented policies and programs to prevent, respond to, and resolve sexual assault incidents involving servicemembers; (2) have visibility over reports of sexual assault involving servicemembers; and (3) exercise oversight over reports of sexual assault involving servicemembers. To conduct this review, GAO reviewed legislative requirements and DOD and Coast Guard guidance; analyzed sexual assault incident data; and obtained through surveys and interviews the perspective on sexual assault matters of more than 3,900 servicemembers.
DOD and the Coast Guard have established polices and programs to prevent, respond to, and resolve reported sexual assault incidents involving servicemembers; however, implementation of the programs is hindered by several factors. GAO found that (1) DOD's guidance may not adequately address some important issues, such as how to implement its program in deployed and joint environments; (2) most, but not all, commanders support the programs; (3) required sexual assault prevention and response training is not consistently effective; and (4) factors such as a DOD-reported shortage of mental health care providers affect whether servicemembers who are victims of sexual assault can or do access mental health services. Left unchecked, these challenges can discourage or prevent some servicemembers from using the programs when needed. GAO found, based on responses to its nongeneralizable survey administered to 3,750 servicemembers stationed at military installations in the United States and overseas and a 2006 DOD survey, the most recent available, that occurrences of sexual assault may be exceeding the rates being reported, suggesting that DOD and the Coast Guard have only limited visibility over the incidence of these occurrences. At the 14 installations where GAO administered its survey, 103 servicemembers indicated that they had been sexually assaulted within the preceding 12 months. Of these, 52 servicemembers indicated that they did not report the sexual assault. GAO also found that factors that discourage servicemembers from reporting a sexual assault include the belief that nothing would be done; fear of ostracism, harassment, or ridicule; and concern that peers would gossip. Although DOD has established some mechanisms for overseeing reports of sexual assault, and the Coast Guard is beginning to do so, neither has developed an oversight framework--including clear objectives, milestones, performance measures, and criteria for measuring progress--to guide its efforts. In compliance with statutory requirements, DOD reports data on sexual assault incidents involving servicemembers to Congress annually. However, DOD's report does not include some data that would aid congressional oversight, such as why some sexual assaults could not be substantiated following an investigation. Further, the military services have not provided data that would facilitate oversight and enable DOD to conduct trend analyses. While the Coast Guard voluntarily provides data to DOD for inclusion in its report, this information is not provided to Congress because there is no requirement to do so. To provide further oversight of DOD's programs, Congress, in 2004, directed the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services to conduct an examination of matters relating to sexual assault in the Armed Forces. However, as of July 2008, the task force had not yet begun its review. Without an oversight framework, as well as more complete data, decision makers in DOD, the Coast Guard, and Congress lack information they need to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs.
Recommendations
Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change
from "In process" to "Implemented" or "Not implemented" based on our follow up work.
Director:
Team:
Phone:
Brenda S. Farrell
Government Accountability Office: Defense Capabilities and Management
(202) 512-3604
Matters for Congressional Consideration
Recommendation: To improve oversight of sexual assault incidents involving servicemembers in the Coast Guard, Congress may wish to consider requiring the Coast Guard to submit to Congress sexual assault incident and program data annually that are methodologically comparable to those required of DOD.
Status: In process
Comments: When we determine what steps the Congress has taken, we will provide updated information.
Recommendations for Executive Action
Recommendation: To improve implementation of the sexual assault prevention and response program in DOD, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to review and evaluate the department's policies for the prevention and response of sexual assault to ensure that adequate guidance is provided to effectively implement the program in deployed environments and joint environments.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve implementation of the sexual assault prevention and response program in DOD, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to evaluate the military services' processes for staffing and designating key installation-level program positions, such as Sexual Assault Response Coordinators (SARCs), at installations in the United States and overseas, to ensure that these individuals have the ability and resources to fully carry out their responsibilities.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve implementation of the sexual assault prevention and response program in DOD, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to review and evaluate sexual assault prevention and response training to ensure the military services are meeting training requirements and to enhance the effectiveness of the training.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To improve implementation of the sexual assault prevention and response program in DOD, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to systematically evaluate and develop an action plan to address any factors that may prevent or discourage servicemembers from accessing mental health services following a sexual assault.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To ensure that the sexual assault prevention and response program has the strong support of military commanders and other senior leaders necessary for implementation, the Secretary of Defense should direct the service secretaries to emphasize to all levels of command their responsibility for supporting the program, and review the extent to which commanders support the program and resources are available to raise servicemembers' awareness of sexual assault matters.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To enhance oversight of the sexual assault prevention and response program in DOD, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to require the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office to develop an oversight framework to guide continued program implementation and evaluate program effectiveness. At a minimum, such a framework should contain long-term goals, objectives, and milestones; performance goals; strategies to be used to accomplish goals; and criteria for measuring progress.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To enhance oversight of the sexual assault prevention and response program in DOD, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to improve the usefulness of the department's annual report as an oversight tool both internally and for congressional decision makers by establishing baseline data to permit analysis of data over time, and reporting data so as to distinguish cases in which (1) evidence was insufficient to substantiate an alleged assault, (2) a victim recanted, or (3) the allegations of sexual assault were unfounded.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To enhance oversight of the military services' sexual assault prevention and response programs, the Secretary of Defense should direct the service secretaries to provide installation-level incident data to the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office annually or as requested to facilitate analysis of sexual assault-related data and better target resources over time.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: To help facilitate the assessment and evaluation of DOD's sexual assault prevention and response program, the Secretary of Defense should direct the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services to begin its examination immediately, now that all members of the task force have been appointed, and to develop a detailed plan with milestones to guide its work.
Agency Affected: Department of Defense
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to improve implementation and enhance oversight of the Coast Guard's sexual assault prevention and response program, the Commandant of the Coast Guard should evaluate its processes for staffing key installation-level program positions, such as the Employee Assistance Program Coordinator (EAPC), to ensure that these individuals have the ability and resources to fully carry out their responsibilities.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: United States Coast Guard
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Recommendation: In order to improve implementation and enhance oversight of the Coast Guard's sexual assault prevention and response program, the Commandant of the Coast Guard should develop an oversight framework to guide continued program implementation and evaluate program effectiveness. At a minimum, such a framework should contain long-term goals, objectives, and milestones; performance goals; strategies to be used to accomplish goals; and criteria for measuring progress.
Agency Affected: Department of Homeland Security: United States Coast Guard
Status: In process
Comments: When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
