A House of Representatives Armed Services Committee Wednesday approved legislation to combat the mushrooming problem of sexual assault in the military by reducing the power of military higher-ups in the convictions of assault and rape cases.
The bill revokes the ability to overturn convictions in these rape cases from commanders, and states that anyone found guilty of a sex-related crime would receive, at the very least, repudiation or a dishonorable discharge.
On Tuesday, seven female senators of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) took the lead in the charges fighting a military panel defending the forces' status quo that currently upholds the chain of command in instances of sexual-related crimes.
"Not all commanders are objective," said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. "Not every single commander necessarily wants women on the force, not every commander believes what a sexual assault is, not every single commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape because they merge all of these crimes together."
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During that hearing the SASC and panel heard testimony from a female soldier.
"I was on my second deployment doing mission in Iraq when I was initially harassed and finally raped... He was from reserve and I was Active Duty... when he [appeared] he asked me to wait a few because he wanted to talk to me... thought nothing of it. Right up until he combat locks the door and out comes a knife at me.... I got raped by this bastard, to this day I play it over in my head," she testified.
"I waited til we got back down to [location] and spoke to my platoon SFC and Lt., I thought for sure they had my back. I then got told if I say another word to anyone about it [then] I was going to be charged with Adultery and get an AR 15 for it... I shut down inside."
The legislation will be included in the National Defense Authorization Act, a $638 billion bill that will set defense guidelines and spending.
The full House is due to vote on the defense bill next week.
