Raw Story reports that a proposal to establish an "Office of Victim Advocate" within Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's office has been rejected.
Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) had reintroduced the "Military Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Act" in May, along with 28 co-sponsors.
The bill includes a variety of provisions, but its first title seeks to establish an Office of Victim Advocate to assist victims of alleged assaults.Slaughter explained in her testimony that the Defense Department needs an Office of Victim Advocate "to oversee and coordinate efforts to prevent and respond to cases of family violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking within the military and among military families."
From 2004 to 2005, there has been a 40 percent increase in the reports of sexual assaults in the military, so you would think that taking some action would be a no-brainer.
Sexual assault victims in the military can go to Sexual Assault Response Coordinators for help, but according to experts these coordinators aren’t enough.
...Anita Sanchez, the Director of Communications at the Miles Foundation, an organization that advocates for military programs to prevent and respond to sexual assault, sees problems with the current approach. She told RAW STORY that for many of the advocates, "This is a voluntary position, many are uniformed personnel, and for both the victim and the advocates themselves it poses issues. They have limited education and training, and their background is not within this type of assistance or services."
The Pentagon didn’t give Raw Story an explanation for why the proposal was rejected, but only said that “the Department does not tolerate sexual assault of any kind and the department has worked vigorously to implement programs to prevent [it].� Clearly.
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See. Suzanne Swift was right.
It's the "stick your head in the sand" approach. This administration seems quite good at it when it comes to internal and domestic affairs.
Hi- This is a shameless plug, but...
I recently started a political action committee- Vote Against Violence (VAVPAC) dedicated to supporting candidates who work to end domestic and sexual violence who advocate on behalf of survivors and work to prevent domestic and sexual violence in our communities.
We have a few great candidates picked out for '06, but we are especially excited about gearing up for 2008, when we can support candidates who will shove the Penatgon in the right direction.
Anyway, if you'd like to find out more or be added to our mailing list, email holly.shulman@voteagainstviolence.org or visit voteagainstviolence.org- a redesign of our site will be launching this week.
Thanks,
Holly