Sexual assault and rape are crimes that not only effect an individual's physicality, but ones that traumatize their victims far beyond the end of the physical act. They violate an expectation of safety, and security, they break trust and self-confidence. These are crimes that compromise the dignity and integrity that all persons are entitled to: the exclusive choice to engage in sexual relationships that is an innate right of every human being.

Sexuality is an innate part of a person, and an innate part of the human experience. A person’s sexuality belongs to no one but himself or herself. That innate part cannot be separated from the self – when that part of a person is violated, their whole person is violated, when self-hate touches that part of a person, it touches them as a whole. Sexuality is bound in relationships, and interactions; it is gaged and valued in choice: the choice with whom it will and will not be shared, and the surrounding experience of how those relationships develop and when.

Known at the STOP Act, H.R. 1593, was reintroduced to the 113^th Congress this past April by Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) . First introduced in 2011, the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act died after being referred to committee.

Sexual Assault and rape are epidemics in the American military. They are crimes that touch all branches of the military, they are not limited to a class of commissioned or non-commissioned, nor are they unique to one sex or biology. Rape in the military affects men and women of every age and from every decade. It finds its victims at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland as well as the Lackland Air Force Base outside of San Antonio, Texas. It takes place in foreign lands, and right here at home.

While these are issues that may be gaining political momentum, sexuality, sex, gender, and orientation are nothing new to be considered by the armed forces - it is only now that their way and means of being considered and evaluated is changing.

The ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy which reigned from February 1994 to September 2011 deemed the intent to engage in homosexual “behaviors” as “an unacceptable risk t the high standards of morale, good order and discipline, and unit cohesion that are the essence of military capability.” (10 U.S.C. § 654 [b]).

While the past two years have given way for our nation to recognize gay and lesbian members of the military as what they truly are – American heroes – there are still calls and questions. DADT held so much more power than just the prevention of social justice in the ultimate duty and honor, but it also gave way and has been cited again and again within the game of power and control that is military rape.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell affected rape victims in two ways – first, it created an environment of risk: if you relayed or reported the assault, you risked being labeled “homosexual” – loosing your job and livelihood in a game where competing ranks told two different stories. This created an environment in which victims did not tell others the weight they carried, nor were they asked, if it had been reported, if they were okay. Second, it created a scapegoat for discharge that was virtually untraceable: had male or female victims alike not engaged in sexual relationships with superiors, the threat to “cry wolf” was all too great, and all too real. 

The Department of Defense released an anonymous survey in May 2013 surrounding sexual assault. They found that sexual assault is on the rise – with 26,000 cases having occurred in 2012 as compared with the 19,000 in 2010. While women make up only 15% of all military personal, they make up 47% of the victims. Of the 13,900 male victims found in this survey – 76% went unreported. Unreported to ranking superiors, unreported to doctors, kept in the hearts and minds of the victims, many of whom had lasting physical and emotional damage to show for it.

The STOP Act would amend the United States Code Title 10 in the creation of a Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Council that would be comprised of mostly civilians and would be independently established from the chain of command within the DOD. Members of this council would be selected and appointed by the President and the Secretary of Defense. Their most significant duty? They would be responsible for the reviewing of each case stemming from a sexual-related offense that have been referred to an appellate court within the military or that has been referred by the Department of Justice.

What does this mean?  It means it would take the fact-finding out of the hands of the military chain-of-command and place it in third party hands. It would create and develop specific sexual assault reporting protocols, develop risk-reduction and response training, file the formal policy on sexual assault, and advise the effectiveness of the Director of Military Prosecution.

The Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office would coordinate to carry out criminal investigations, it would coordinate the oversight of the three fundamental rights of rape victims: safety and security, a place to communicate, and to be validated. In lay terms this means – victims of sexual assault in the military will have the right to a criminal investigation of their claims and not just a response from a hierarchy of leadership. This means that individuals that are victim to these heinous crimes will have a team working to ensure their physical, mental, and emotional safety, and get the help and treatment they need, and not after the fact.

Sexual assault and rape victims in the military are isolated by the trust and comradery that are so prevalent and necessary. Its victims are violated in a way that separates them from “unit cohesion” so essential to line and field.

This is a crime that has touched some of the bravest men and women of every generation. This is a battle that they were not prepared to fight. This is a violation of the most innate rights of those who honorably called to stand up for ours.

It is time we do something to protect those, to honor those, and to serve those who so willingly have done it for us today, tomorrow, and in so many years passed.