| Task force finds improvement in sexual assault response By Samantha L. Quigley WASHINGTON, (12/7/09) — The Defense Department has made progress in improving its response to the needs of sexual assault victims, but needs to do more, a special task force has determined. The Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services has turned its report over to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates for review. But while noting progress, the congressionally mandated report also called for the department to do more to address the spectrum of sexual assault prevention and response. “Our recommendations highlight the need for institutional change to more effectively prevent sexual assault and address related issues,” said Louis Iasiello, the task force co-chair. “Doing so is not only ethically and morally correct, but also essential to military readiness – all the more critical at this time.” The first recommendation the task force made regarding the Defense Department’s Sexual Awareness Prevention and Response Office was to elevate its oversight to the deputy secretary of defense until the program meets established institutional goals. Among other recommendations are changing the budgeting process to overcome inconsistent funding among the services, strengthening the policy and oversight functions of the office, and conducting more rigorous oversight of military service training programs. The task force also recommended that Congress consider some permanent changes, including:
\r \r \r \r \r All of the task force’s suggestions were based on the assessment of data collected from 60 sites around the world over 15 months. The task force spoke to more than 3,500 people, including active-duty and reserve-component victims of sexual assault and other military personnel. The task force members also spoke to general court-martial convening authorities, legal and investigative officials, senior policy officials, sexual assault response coordinators and victim advocates. Gates has 90 days to review and comment on the report before submitting it to Congress. ————— MilitaryConnection.com thanks you for your patronage. This web site is a portal of all things military, and we are quickly becoming the “go to” web site for all things military. We are constantly adding resources, content and features to benefit our audience. Our web site and all of the resources are free to users, and there is something for everyone. Additionally, we feature nursing articles like this to keep you informed. If you belong to a group or organization, we will post your press releases, special events, newsletters, professional conferences and seminars, reunions, job fairs, and videos to help spread the word. One of the areas of our focus is connecting candidates from the military community with outstanding government and civilian employers. We know that candidates from the military community across the board have a work ethic second to none. They make highly valued employees. MilitaryConnection.com has a multitude of employment resources including a Directory of over 30,000 employers, Job Tips, Columns, our new and improved Job Board, Virtual Job Fair and much more. We understand the importance of education. Please check out our new Education section, featuring the most up to date information on the new GI Bill, Education Articles, Education Benefits, and the Scholarship Directory featuring thousands of scholarships. When the next tour is back home, it’s on MilitaryConnection.com. |