On March 30, the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues heard testimony from officials at the Department of Defense (DoD), sexual assault victims, and victims’ advocates on the problems facing women in the military. Participating in the hearing were Reps. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL), Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), Susan Davis (D-CA), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Diane Watson (D-CA).
Caucus Co-Chair Louise Slaughter chaired the hearing and stated in her opening remarks, “The assault and rape of our military women is one of the worst, most shameful problems facing our nation today…If we do not address this problem here and now, I predict the Pentagon will witness a growing exodus of women in uniform, and growing problems filling the critical positions they occupy. In time, recruitment and retention across all the armed services could be impacted by women’s unwillingness to join an organization that devalues their contributions and disrespects their basic rights.”
Co-Chair Shelley Moore Capito said that the American people “know war is violent. What the American people will not tolerate is the assault or rape of a female soldier by a fellow soldier. Simply put, this is unacceptable. Women are going to serve in the military there is nothing that will change that fact. We need to work through this problem, understand its causes, and put in place measures that will prevent it from happening.”
Anita Blair, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for personnel programs, testified on behalf of the DoD and stated, “Sexual assault is criminal conduct and will not be tolerated in the Department of Defense.” On February 5, 2004, Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered a special task force to investigate media reports of alleged sexual assaults on service members serving overseas and to examine how the DoD treats and cares for victims. Ms. Blair said that the task force began its work in mid-February and plans to issue its findings on April 30.
Army Captain Jennifer Machmer shared her personal story with the caucus. Captain Machmer said that she reported extreme sexually abusive language by a subordinate in 2001, then was sexually abused by a military chaplain who she saw for marital counseling in 2002. She did not report the 2002 incident, but when she was raped in Kuwait in 2003 she reported the incident within 30 minutes because “there was no way I could file away another violation,” she stated. Captain Machmer said that the investigation ended in August and the man was never punished. He remains in the military, while she is being discharged with a 30 percent temporary retirement benefit. Captain Machmer said that rape “needs to be better understood” by the DoD. She contended that investigations are taking too long, mental health care should be provided to victims, victims should not be forced to work with their assailants, and the victim’s family should be present at hearings.
Noting that the DoD has publicly acknowledged over 110 reported cases of sexual misconduct in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Afghanistan in the past 18 months, Christine Hanson of the Miles Foundation said that her organization has received 129 credible cases of sexual assaults occurring in those countries and 347 cases in other U.S. military installations during the same period. Ms. Hansen asked the military “for a standardization of policies and programs among the military departments in order to ensure victims’ safety and offender and system accountability. Priority must be given to the barriers which preclude access to services, care and treatment for victims and survivors.” She also proposed a centralized Office of the Victim Advocate, which would improve and coordinate services between the military and civilian communities.
Scott Berkowitz of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network said that the problem of sexual assault “is not unique to the military, nor is the reluctance of victims to report the crime…To successfully combat this problem, we must improve services on base, provide soldiers with alternative, confidential services off base, and implement effective prevention and education programs on every base, backed up by personal commitment by base commanders to zero tolerance and routine prosecutions.”
