E-Paper
US Military introduces new law to deal with sexual assault in the force
New US military law enacted on 28 December aims to combat sexual harassment & assault. Independent lawyers to prosecute serious cases.
A new law that aims to address the growing problem of sexual harassment and assault in the US military has come into effect on 28 December.
The law will give independent lawyers the authority to decide whether to prosecute cases of murder, rape and domestic violence among service members, instead of commanders who have been accused of ignoring or covering up such crimes.
The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, praised the law as a historic reform.
“It’s the most important reform to our military justice system since the creation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in 1950,” he said in a statement.
The law will create special counsels within each branch of the military, who will be responsible for handling serious offences. These counsels will be legal professionals who are not part of the military chain of command. They will be located across the country, with more of them near bases or areas with high rates of reported crimes.
ALSO READ| 'Our hearts are in Bethlehem': Pope Francis over Israel-Hamas war
According to the Associated Press, the Army will have 65 trial counsels, the Air Force 40, the Marines 33 and the Navy 24. Each council will deal with about 50 investigations and eight to 12 trials per year.
The law was passed by Congress in 2022, with bipartisan support from lawmakers who wanted to improve the support and protection for victims of sexual assault and harassment in the military.
I fought for nearly a decade to reform the military: Gillibrand
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, was the main sponsor of the law, which was also backed by Republicans such as Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa.
Gillibrand and other supporters of the law argued that commanders had failed to provide justice for victims, and that an independent system was needed to ensure fairness and accountability. They were joined by military activists and advocacy groups, who had been campaigning for years for a change in the military justice system.
The law was passed in response to the alarming increase in sexual assault and harassment cases in the military, as shown by the Pentagon’s annual report on sexual assault in the military.
The report revealed that in 2022, the Navy saw a 13% rise in reports, the Air Force a 9% rise and the Marines a 3.6% rise. The army saw a 9% decrease, but still had the highest number of reports, with 8,942. The total number of reports across the military was 8,942, which was almost seven times higher than in 2006.
ALSO READ| Sam Bankman-Fried will not face a second trial, US prosecutors decide
The report also showed that in a confidential survey conducted in 2022, 36,000 service members said they had experienced unwanted sexual contact, up from 20,000 in 2018.
Gillibrand expressed her satisfaction on X, formerly Twitter.
“I fought for nearly a decade to reform the military justice system,” she said.
“It took a long time to pass my reforms, but finally, victims of sexual assault and other serious crimes have the independent, impartial justice system they deserve.”
