SWAN's Response to the IRC's Recommendation
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
24 June 2021
PRESS CONTACT:
Victoria Moore
SWAN's Response to the IRC's Recommendation
The Independent Review Commission Conclusion on Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment.
Washington D.C. –– The Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) welcomes the news that the Independent Review Commission (IRC) called by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on his first day on the job has finished its work. Although the full slate of the IRC’s recommendations has not been released yet, we strongly support its proposal that incidents of sexual assault, sexual harassment, bullying, and domestic violence must be removed from the accused’s chain of command and handled by a new Special Victims organization that will be overseen from within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. If approved by Congress, this action will modernize the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the undergirding of our military justice system since 1948. This change would be a giant step toward winning the military’s decades-long battle against sexual assault, a victory the UCMJ has hampered instead of furthering.
SWAN also understands that transforming the IRC’s recommendations into law and then implementing that law within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, which oversees the Coast Guard, will require close oversight by Congress by the Office of the Secretary of Defense by advocacy groups such as SWAN. This is necessary if sexual assault, sexual harassment, bullying, and domestic violence are to be expunged entirely from our military.
But the IRC’s proposal is only a first step. Passing the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Bill as companion legislation to the IRC’s recommendation would further transform the military justice system by distinguishing between unit commanders’ responsibilities for their units’ discipline and the responsibilities of Congress and DoD to adjudicate felony-level accusations against members of the military––including Special Victims Crimes––using the professional skills of JAG lawyers throughout the process. SWAN strongly supports both these actions.
{{Disclaimer}}
Service Women's Action Network
441 4th St NW Suite 707N
Washington, DC 20001
United States
If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please (Unsubscribing is not supported in previews).