WASHINGTON – A coalition of congresswomen blasted the military Wednesday for not taking assaults against women seriously, with one lawmaker pledging to introduce legislation that would help military rape victims by allocating millions of dollars to expand support services.
During a two-hour hearing that included a wide- ranging discussion about reports that commanders routinely punish victims and fail to prosecute offenders, members of the Congressional Women’s Caucus also challenged the Pentagon to produce more detailed statistics about punishments handed out to perpetrators – and to victims.
The congresswomen characterized problems in the armed services as a human-rights crisis and said they must have a clearer picture of the military justice system.
“While these women are defending our country to protect our freedoms, their basic human rights are being violated, and to me that is not right and that is not just,” said Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Fla.
Wednesday’s hearing was the latest in a series of inquiries by Congress into the military’s response to sexual assault. Pentagon officials are conducting their own studies aimed at improving lackluster support services and investigations.
Lawmakers took testimony from a representative of the Department of Defense, two civilian victim advocates and an Army captain who was assaulted during war duty. The panel also accepted written testimony from dozens of other military victims. A transcript and testimony delivered at the hearing will be submitted to the Pentagon.
Caucus members decried the military’s handling of rape cases of service members recently returning from war duty overseas and heard testimony from Army Capt. Jennifer Machmer, who told how she was threatened with fraternization charges after reporting being raped. She also testified that she did not receive counseling and had to work in the same area as her alleged attacker for weeks afterward.
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“The aftermath of the rape has been terrifying,” Machmer said, adding that she recently learned her allaged attacker has not been punished. Machmer, who first told her story to The Denver Post in February, revealed that she also had been sexually assaulted by a chaplain during her overseas tour. “They are keeping the perpetrators in and kicking the victims out,” she said.
Two experts in the field of sexual assault testified that the military’s record of failing to prosecute alleged attackers must be addressed and that civilian methods for responding to sexual assault, such as granting confidentiality to victims, must be pursued by the military.
Christine Hansen, executive director of the Miles Foundation, testified that her victim advocacy organization has seen another sharp increase in the number of sexual assault reports among soldiers returning from combat service. The number of women seeking assistance through the foundation now stands at 129 cases, Hansen said.
Hansen read several statements from victims who have approached her organization and recounted several of the “disturbing” trends emerging in the cases, such as the lack of medical treatment and counseling and incomplete investigations that have allowed attackers to go free, she said. Many of the women have reported being forced to work and live in close quarters with their alleged rapist.
Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., and other caucus members said many of the problems related to military sexual assault and harassment have surfaced before without being seriously addressed by Pentagon officials.
“The assault and rape of our military women is one of the worst, most shameful problems facing our nation today,” Slaughter said. “Unfortunately, the recent stories of brutalities against women serving in the Middle East are not new. From the Tailhook scandal to the rapes at the Air Force Academy, our military women have long endured attacks on their bodies, their characters and their minds.
“If we do not address this problem here and now, I predict the Pentagon will witness a growing exodus of women in uniform.”
“This problem has been studied over and over and over,” agreed Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. “I am aware of at least 18 studies (by the military) that have been done over the past 16 years investigating the problem of sexual misconduct in the military. But we have seen little evidence that these studies have translated into any concrete improvement for victims.”
Maloney said she wants answers from Pentagon officials about whether they have pursued some of their own recommendations, including one made in 1999 to create a new office devoted to sex crimes, and if not, why. And Slaughter questioned whether a recent internal investigation ordered by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld into the handling of assaults overseas will be “thorough enough” given its speedy timeline – completion by late April.
Anita Blair, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for personnel programs, the only Pentagon official to appear before the panel, said she would look into the matters raised by Slaughter and Maloney. She left the hearing room after the presentation, refusing to answer questions from The Post.
At the close of the hearing, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., promised to pursue legislation creating an “office of victim advocacy” within the military, an idea proposed by the Miles Foundation and other crisis organizations. She said she will push for freeing up $10 million in the military’s budget to fund a centralized, standardized approach to provide more advocates to victims. The military currently has a severe shortage of advocates, who help victims navigate the legal and counseling processes, despite congressional mandates 10 years ago to provide such help to victims.
Brown-Waite and others also urged Pentagon leaders to release statistics on how sexual-assault crimes have been handled by commanders since 2000 that would include how alleged offenders have been punished, and whether the victim in each case was punished or discharged.
“Until we have numbers to look at, we might be in a position to be misled,” Brown-Waite said.
The Post reported last year that during the past 10 years, more sex offenders in the Army have received job-related punishments such as reprimands than were prosecuted, according to statistics released by the Army. The Air Force and Navy failed to provide complete data to the newspaper.
Slaughter said the caucus might hold additional hearings in future weeks and months to discuss legislative solutions for a problem she described as horrific.
“Having to salute your rapist every day borders on cruel,” Slaughter said.
