„Sexual assault is an abuse of power and an affront to our shared humanity,“ the president said in a statement.
President Joe Biden is backing a major effort to reform the military’s handling of sexual assault after consulting with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about an unprecedented plan to remove decisions on prosecuting cases from unit commanders. Biden made the announcement after Austin accepted the recommendation of an independent review panel that the Pentagon take sexual assault and related crimes out of the chain of command, and instead let independent military lawyers handle them. Austin’s recommendation does not, however, go as far as legislation gaining support in Congress that would make that change for all major crimes, not just sexual assault. In a statement, Biden says he „strongly“ supports the change. „Sexual assault is an abuse of power and an affront to our shared humanity,“ he said. „And sexual assault in the military is doubly damaging because it also shreds the unity and cohesion that is essential to the functioning of the U.S. military and to our national defense.“ The top military brass has long resisted the change, but leaders have recently acknowledged that the Pentagon has not made sufficient progress in combating sexual assault in the ranks and that more needs to be done. In a Friday memo, Austin directed senior Pentagon leaders to begin carrying out the panel’s recommendations. This includes working with Congress to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to remove commanders from decisions to prosecute sexual assaults and related crimes — domestic violence, child abuse and retaliation — and adding sexual harassment as an offense under the UCMJ. Austin also directed the department to create dedicated offices within the services to handle the prosecution of these special crimes “with appropriate legal oversight and guidance from the Office of the Secretary of Defense,” according to the memo.
