In 1948, President Truman ordered the armed services of the U.S. military to help lead the charge against racial discrimination in American society. The nation desperately needs the Pentagon to play a similar role in the fight against sexual assault.
The Pentagon faces many of the same personnel problems as other U.S. employers, including mental health woes, substance abuse and sexual assault. But a key difference is that the president and Congress can literally order and force the U.S. military to take effective action to address a problem, which is exactly what Truman did with Executive Order 9981 establishing equality of treatment and opportunity in the armed services.
Truman's executive order was a historic turning point, providing a crucial building block for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. President Obama and Congress now have a similar opportunity to force change in the U.S. military that could help turn the tide against sexual assault throughout American society.
Congress took a huge step in the right direction on Tuesday, June 4, when members of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee grilled top Pentagon leaders on why they had not followed through on earlier pledges to address sexual assault in their ranks. Given the partisan bickering and gridlock that has often paralyzed Washington during the Obama adminstration, Tuesday's hearing was a rare opportunity for Americans to take pride in their federal lawmakers as Democratic and Republican senators excoriated the generals and admirals over their failure to curb sexual assault.
While the senators' anger and frustration over sexual assault in the U.S. military is thoroughly justified, all responsible American citizens should be angered and frustrated over the scourge of sexual assault, which is as pervasive across the country today as racism was when Truman signed Executive Order 9981. One particular passage in an Associated Press story about Tuesday's Senate hearing applies to far more than the Pentagon:
(U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.) said victims of sexual assault are reluctant to report the crimes to their commanders because they fear their allegations will be dismissed and they might face retaliation. Aggressive reforms in the military's legal code are needed to force cultural changes, she said. "You have lost the trust of the men and women who rely on you," Gillibrand said. "They're afraid to report. They think their careers will be over. They fear retaliation. They fear being blamed. That is our biggest challenge right there."
Gillibrand's comment succinctly describes the sexual assault challenge facing every employer in the United States.
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