Lawmakers push to protect sex assault victims - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Lawmakers push to protect sex assault victims

Eight months after accusing a noncommissioned officer of sexual assault, Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who was pregnant, was killed by that NCO and buried in his backyard.

Lauterbach’s death in 2007 has brought increased attention to the issue of sexual assault in the military.

Reps. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, and Niki Tsongas, D-Mass., introduced legislation Wednesday that would make it easier for victims to seek help and keep their conversations confidential.

“The terrible lesson of Maria’s story is what has helped in shaping this legislation,” Turner said.

After leaving the military, one in three veterans report having been the victim of some kind of sexual trauma while in service, Tsongas said. But studies by the Pentagon have found that only 13.5 percent of sexual assault cases are reported.

Under current regulations, a victim filing a confidential sexual assault report cannot speak with a military lawyer without opening an investigation, which means all reports and conversations are public. The bill would place Judge Advocate General officers on a list of personnel to whom victims may speak while maintaining the confidentiality of their cases.

“By not being able to access the JAG officer as a victim, they don’t know what process is ahead of them, what decisions they’re making and how they will affect them, and what their rights are,” Turner said.

The legislation also would allow confidential meetings between victims and their advocates and representatives within the military, which currently may be subpoenaed by a court and made public, Tsongas said.

Further training of victim advocates is needed, but thanks to previous legislation, last year was the first time that victim advocate was a volunteer position instead of an assigned one, said Anuradha Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network and a former Marine captain.

Elected in 2007, Tsongas said she was surprised by the stories she heard from service members. One woman who had served multiple deployments said that although she had never been sexually assaulted, she lived in constant fear of it, Tsongas said.

“She said she was actually more afraid of our own soldiers than she was of the enemy,” Tsongas said.

The Pentagon has made great strides in combating sexual assault in the military, Tsongas said. Turner said that many ideas, such as allowing access to JAG officers, were suggested by Defense Department investigations.

DoD estimates that 19,000 service members were sexually assaulted last year, said Bhagwati, many of whom have just entered the military.

“With such junior rank, they are given few privileges and barely any freedom of movement to flee their perpetrators, to seek help when they need it most, or to leave the units or bases where they are being brutalized,” she said.

Turner said transfer requests after sexual assaults must be given priority.

“Victims should not have to stay in the same station as their assailant,” he said, adding that a transfer might have saved Lauterbach who, instead, was forced to serve eight months with her assailant.

Sexual assault is not only a women’s issue, Bhagwati said. According to Veterans Affairs Department statistics, 40 percent of those reporting sexual trauma are male, she said.

Turner said there is bipartisan support for the bill, and expects it to go to the Senate later this year.