Sen. Claire McCaskill is continuing her push to reduce the number of sexual assaults in the military, but says the challenges are steep. She’s introduced legislation to deal with the way the military is hiring and screening and promoting people who are supposed to be preventing and monitoring sexual assault cases.
She says will to work with military leaders to shift the culture. She says her experience as a prosecutor can help pass legislation that makes realistic changes, yet puts perpetrators behind bars. She says her experience in Jackson County makes her uniquely qualified to craft legislation that works.
“My original bill, which was introduced months ago, would remove the ability of a general to set aside a jury verdict,” she says. “A second piece of legislation, which was introduced by my colleagues, would make sure victims have a support system.”
In response to the latest news about sex crimes allegations, Army Secretary Chuck Hagel has called for all of these professionals to undergo re-reviews and re-training to ensure they are the right people for the job.
Reports that service members responsible for preventing sexual assaults are themselves under investigation for such abuses has prompted a concern throughout the federal government.
Officials say there are approximately 9,000 service members who work in sexual assault prevention. About one third of them have received new training by non-military training professionals.