WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 14, 2004) -- The term sexual assault must be given a universal definition and separated from “harassment” under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, according to a group developed to improve the treatment of victims.

In February, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said he was concerned about reports of allegations of sexual assaults on service members deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. He directed a task force to review the treatment and care of victims, and report their findings within 90 days.

It was reported in March that during a 12-month period Army CID (Criminal Investigation Command) personnel had investigated 94 allegations of sexual misconduct in the Central Command area. The complaints were not all made by Soldiers, officials said. And not all of those assaulted were women. Also, the perpetrators were not all Soldiers, officials added. Allegations were made against local nationals and members of other services and coalition forces.

After visiting 21 military locations across the Central Command area, overseas and stateside and talking to more than 1,300 individuals, the eight-member task force addressed 35 key findings, made nine broad recommendations and compiled their results in a 99-page report.

“Sexual assault is a crime and has potentially devastating and long-term affects on victims and their units,” said Ellen Embrey, the task force integrator during a Pentagon briefing May 13. “We must make sure that the system of reporting, responding and investigating sexual assault is timely and sensitive to victims’ needs. Most importantly, leaders have to be committed to making the necessary improvements.”

Overall, Embrey said that there were some local commanders who had developed local sexual assault awareness training, but because there was not a DoD-wide policy in place there was no consistency in the programs. Also all the services have robust programs aimed at preventing sexual harassment, they merely mention assault, she added.

For the purpose of the study, the task force defined sexual assault as alleged offenses of rape, forcible sodomy, assault with intent to commit rape or sodomy, indecent assault or an attempt to commit any of these offenses.

To assess where the military stood in taking care of victims and its prevention programs, the task force talked to victims face-to-face or telephonically to find out if the system had failed them, Embrey said. They also talked to victim advocates, professionals, commanders and Soldiers.

Commanders identified the need to conduct sexual assault awareness training prior to arrival in theater due to the high operations tempo. Enlisted personnel expressed strong desire for training that was not “death by PowerPoint.”

In addition junior Soldiers who were part of the focus group said there is a critical need for education and training on where to report and how to support a victim of sexual assault.

The top recommendation from the task force is to establish a single point of accountability for all sexual assault policy matters within DoD so that all services would get the resources needed to develop programs to support sexual assault prevention, reporting and response. For immediate action, another recommendation includes allocating time during the Combatant Commanders Conference, to be held this month, to discuss the findings and recommendations of the report.

Rumsfeld charged his combatant commanders with finding out, at every level, if the people under their command feel comfortable reporting incidents of sexual assault, and do they have appropriate ways to care for victims. Those findings will be reported during the Combatant Commanders Conference, said Dr. David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for Personnel and Readiness.

Preventing sexual assault is ultimately a command responsibility, Chu added. Other immediate recommendations include disseminating sexual assault information through DoD-wide communication outlets, and convening a summit of DoD leaders to develop courses of action on critical unresolved issues.

Since the allegations were first made public early this year corrective actions that have taken place include replacing the expired rape kits in the CENTCOM area, and establishing guidelines on how to deal with any inappropriate behavior of a foreign national. However, Embry said commanders must still ensure U.S. service members understand the cultural and religious differences of coalition partners.

Acting Secretary of the Army Les Brownlee directed the establishment of a Sexual Assault Task Force to review the effectiveness of the Army’s policies on reporting and addressing allegations of sexual assault. Senior leaders of the Army and other appropriate parties are reviewing the report. When the review is complete, it will be released to the public.