As a former civilian social worker for the Air Force, I cannot help but weigh in on the national debate about how to reform the Department of Defense’s sexual assault policies.
Military rapes and sexual assaults are ignored and if not ignored so callously prosecuted within the Military Code of Justice as to suggest that rape is nothing more than a minor infraction deserving of little punishment, if any.
The military is fond of parading tokens of femininity, but is less appreciative of and less willing to accommodate women’s actual service.
The military already has manuals and PowerPoints on preventing and addressing sexual assault within its ranks. What it needs now is to transform these into lifestyle changes in the everyday treatment of women who report sexual assaults.
At recent Congressional hearings on sexual assault in the military, the Department of Defense prevented its sexual assault prevention program director from testifying.
