Pentagon seeks to crack down on sex assaults in military

[Playinghardball]

(Reuters) – The military will ramp up efforts to combat sexual assault in the ranks, a crime the secretary of defense decried as a “stain” on the honor of troops and one the Pentagon suspects is vastly underreported.

Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said the military received 3,191 reports of sexual assault in fiscal 2011, up slightly from 3,158 the year before. But this is “a very underreported crime,” he said, and officials estimate the true number is closer to 19,000 assaults.

Sexual assault has “no place” in the military, Panetta said, according to a Pentagon transcript of the briefing.

“It is an affront to the basic American values we defend, and it is a stain on the good honor of the great majority of our troops and their — and our families,” Panetta said.

More at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/18/pentagon-seeks-to-crack-down-on-sex-assaults-in-military/

[annm4peace]

1. they need to restore benefits for those who were raped

they need to restore benefits for those who were sexually harassed and or assaulted and thus went AWOL.

I have heard of so many women (and men were raped also) who went AWOL cause they could not get the abuse to stop.

They need to prosecute the higher ups who refused to do anything when rapes and harassment were reported.

Remember the stories of female soldiers in iraq/afghanistan who were getting Urinary tract infections because they weren't going to the bathroom at night because they were afraid of being assaulted on the way to the latrine ?

I am so glad this is being taken more seriously and hope the surviors get some healing.