Fiscal 2010 Sexual Assault in the Military Report released
The Department of Defense this week released the “Fiscal Year 2010 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military.” This year’s report also incorporates results from the quadrennial “2010 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members,” an anonymous and voluntary survey conducted by the Defense Manpower Data Center, which measures gender issues among members of the armed forces.
Over the last two years, the department has made significant efforts to prevent and respond to sexual assault. While it appears these efforts are beginning to payoff, there is still work to do to integrate and continue our efforts across the department and the services.
“The department’s position on sexual assault is clear: one sexual assault is one too many. Sexual assault has absolutely no place in today’s armed forces. We are firmly committed to doing our best to ensure that those who have stepped forward to protect our country are themselves protected within the ranks,” said Clifford L. Stanley, under secretary of defense (personnel and readiness).
Currently, DoD is reviewing and analyzing the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office organizational structure and programs to develop a more comprehensive approach to prevent and handle sexual assaults in an integrated and uniform manner across the services.
The renewed focus of this review will include policies related to:
– Privileged communications between victims and their advocates;
– Expedited unit/organization transfers for victims;
– Access to legal counsel for victims; and
– Sexual assault experts in UCMJ proceedings.
The complete report is available here. For specific information regarding the military departments, contact the Army at 703-697-2564, the Navy at 703-697-5342, and the Air Force at 703-695-0640.
