Civilian court only fix for military sex crimes

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/columnists/margery_eagan/2013/05/civilian_court_only_fix_for_military_sex_crimes

Civilian court only fix for military sex crimes
By Margery Eagan
Sunday, May 19, 2013

The U.S. military cannot fix its sexual assault epidemic any more than the Catholic Church could fix its own.

Yet, “We’ll fix this” were the words of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel this week. “I have no tolerance for this,” said President Obama. Both referred to a Pentagon report estimating that 26,000 women and some men — up dramatically — were sexually attacked in the military last year. But only 3,374 cases were reported and 238 offenders were convicted. Meanwhile, outraged congressmen filed a flurry of bills.

But we’re seen and heard this all before, haven’t we? We’ve heard it repeatedly, actually, since 1991’s so-called Tailhook scandal, in which more than 100 Navy and Marine Corps officers allegedly assaulted at least 83 military women, and politicians vowed: No more.

In March, leading up to this latest round of outrage, we heard Navy Petty Officer Brian Lewis tell Congress that his superior ordered him not to report his rape by another superior. We heard former Army Sgt. Rebekah Havrilla testify that her Army chaplain called her rape God’s way to get her to return to church. And that her male investigator, over four hours, asked her to detail, repeatedly, exactly what her rapist was doing to her in each of the many photographs of the crime he posted online.