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Reps. Niki Tsongas, D-Mass. (L), and Michael Turner, R-Ohio (R), speak at a press conference Wednesday morning to promote support for people who are sexually assaulted while serving in the military. Tsongas and Turner introduced legislation to make it easier for sexual assault victims to speak with military lawyers in private.
WASHINGTON — Eight months after accusing a superior officer of sexual assault, Marine Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach, who was pregnant, was killed by the officer and buried in his backyard.
Lauterbach’s death in 2007 has brought increased attention to the issue of sexual assault in the military and action from lawmakers who want to make it easier for victims to get help.
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 they were in the service, Tsongas said, and 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 may not speak with a a military lawyer without opening an investigation, which means all reports and conversations are public. The bill would place Judge Advocate General officers – the military lawyers — 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 that they’re making, and how they will affect them, and what their rights are,” Turner said.
Another key component of the legislation would provide confidentiality for 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 advocates of victims 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.
Phillip Swarts/MNS
Anuradha Bhagwati, a former Marine Captain, speaks Wednesday morning in support of the Defense STRONG Act. Bhagwati is now the executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network, and says sexual assault is a growing problem the military must address.
As a new member of Congress, 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,” the congresswoman said.
The Pentagon has made great strides in combating sexual assault in the military, Tsongas said, and Turner added that many ideas, such as allowing access to JAG officers, were suggested by Department of Defense investigations.
The Department of Defense 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 of duty 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 statistics, 40 percent of those reporting sexual trauma are male, she said.
“If you take all the women out of the military, assaults are still going to happen,” she said.
Turner said there is bipartisan support for the bill, and expects it to go to the Senate later this year.