|
WASHINGTON, DC - To force the Department of Defense to take action on the problem of poor care for servicewomen and men who have been sexually assaulted, Reps. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14), Diane Watson (CA-33) and 46 other Members of Congress wrote to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today asking for immediate, concrete measures to support victims of sexual assault (PDF of letter). Members also asked for a timeline of when the recommendations made in DoD’s recently released Department of Defense Task Force Report on Care for Victims of Sexual Assault will be implemented. Members say that the report does little to actually help the victims but instead makes long-term, broad recommendations that do nothing to help the victims now.
“Here’s the situation: our servicewomen in Iraq continue to make reports of sexual assaults, and DoD puts out a report that talks about convening summits and developing policies,” said Maloney. “These victims need support, not summits. They need confidentiality in reporting. They need DNA evidence kits available and trained personnel to administer them. They need to know that if they report an assault, they will not be put through the ringer by the military and possibly kicked out. And they need these things now. “DoD has a history of ignoring recommendations that were made in the numerous previous reports on sexual assault. We want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. We want a timeline telling us when each of the recommendations will go into effect. The last thing we need is another report that makes recommendations that fall through the cracks.” Watson said: “Americans count on their military to defend America and defend American values. When the Pentagon winks and nods at sexual assault, it weakens our military as much as enemy bullets. In the twenty-first century, women are an integral part of our fighting forces. They need to spend their time defending America from Al Qaeda, not defending themselves from sexual predators.” Recently, the Congressional Women’s Caucus held hearings in Washington at which military sex abuse victims testified that abuse often goes without criminal punishment. In many cases, military officers choose to dole out administrative punishments, and offenders remain in the military, while their victims are at times forced out. Current Signers (48): Reps. Carolyn Maloney, Tammy Baldwin, Shelley Berkley, Earl Blumenauer, Lois Capps, Julia Carson, Diana DeGette, William Delahunt, Rosa DeLauro, Lloyd Doggett, Sam Farr, Martin Frost, Charles Gonzalez, Raul Grijalva, Luis Gutierrez, Jane Harman, Rush Holt, Michael Honda, Jay Inslee, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Patrick Kennedy, Dale Kildee, Carolyn Kilpatrick, Dennis Kucinich, Jim Langevin, Sheila Jackson Lee, Barbara Lee, Denise Majette, Karen McCarthy, Betty McCollum, Jim McDermott, Dennis Moore, Grace Napolitano, Major Owens, Lucille Roybal-Allard, C.A. Ruppersberger, Bernie Sanders, Jan Schakowsky, Adam Smith, Pete Stark, Ted Strickland, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Tom Udall, Chris Van Hollen, Maxine Waters, Diane Watson, Henry Waxman, Robert Wexler. ### |
