Even after the Lackland Scandal. How much worse will it get now that Gays (LGBTQ) can serve openly and now that women will be allowed to serve on the front lines? Just asking. Robert Beckhusen at Wired's Danger Room reports:
The Pentagon has talked a lot about putting a stop to sexual abuse and harassment in the military, including abuse carried out by general officers. Yet a new report from the investigative arm of Congress finds it’s mostly that — talk. It catalogs how the military still hasn’t fixed a host of systemic obstacles that contribute to sexual assault and make it less likely for survivors to get help.
According to a report released Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), while the Pentagon has made some progress in recent years at trying to stop sexual abuse, treatment isn’t always available. Medical first-responders are undertrained and not always aware of services available for survivors. Perhaps worse, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs — which oversees the military’s health resources — hasn’t “established guidance,” required by the Pentagon, “for the treatment of injuries stemming from sexual assault.”
Among those guidelines: standardizing procedures for collecting
evidence; providing specialized medical care; and, perhaps most
alarming, keeping the identities of survivors private. Instead, sexual
assault survivors within the military have to navigate a hodge-podge of
different standards between branches — even at individual bases. “These
inconsistencies,” the report states, can “erode servicemembers’
confidence. As a consequence, sexual assault victims who want to keep
their case confidential may be reluctant to seek medical care.” (continue reading at Wired's Danger Room)
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