Executive Order is a Start; What Else is Needed for Safe and Respectful Environments in the Military
Aligning the Military with Other Workplaces
Earlier this year, President Biden signed an Executive Order Making Sexual Harassment an Offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Establishing sexual harassment as an offense under the code was called for by the I Am Vanessa Guillén Act in the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.
Specialist Guillén was 20 years old when she was murdered in April 2020, allegedly by a fellow soldier who took his own life prior to being formally accused. A US Army report said officers at Fort Hood ignored her complaints of sexual harassment in the time leading up to her death. Over a dozen officials were disciplined after the Army found “major flaws” in the culture at Fort Hood. Guillén’s death drew national attention as part of the #MeToo movement and renewed the demand for real change within the military.
The Situation:
Nearly a decade after Congress mandated the use of investigators and prosecutors specifically trained to handle sexual assault and domestic violence cases, a draft Pentagon report showed the military failing to comply with federal law that requires it to give survivors of such abuse support.
- One in 16 women and one in 143 men are estimated to experience sexual assault within the DOD.
- At the service academies, one in six women and one in 29 men experience sexual assault.1
- In an analysis of almost 450 military special victims cases filed between 2018 to 2020, the Department of Defense's (DOD) inspector general found that 64% did not have properly trained prosecutors assigned to them.2
More is Needed: The Power of Prevention
At Soteria Solutions, we are pleased with this Executive Order, helping the DOD in its larger initiative to bring the military’s response more in line with other workplaces. This includes the important shift away from blaming the victim and acknowledging the role that workplace environments, including prevailing cultures, have in enabling incivility, harassment, discrimination and violence.
While the Executive Order offers improved protection for victims of sexual assault, including women, men and gender non-conforming individuals, more is needed. Prevention as an evidenced-based approach is needed to have a long-term effect on changes in behavior in organizations. Deterrence is not enough. Decades of research reveals the power of preventative strategies including bystander intervention to affect and maintain lasting change.
At Soteria Solutions, we offer custom solutions based on prevention strategies to help organizations including the DOD prevent inappropriate behavior. While the Executive Order is an important factor in acknowledging that the victim has been a victim of a crime, the Executive Order does not address the underlying factors contributing to the high incidence of sexual assault and harassment at the DOD or within the military branches.
Changes to core organizational frameworks need to be addressed in order to truly achieve sustainable change so that all in the military and DOD feel safe and respected.
Solutions Built on Organizational Strengths to Affect Lasting Change
Soteria Solutions works with workplaces, colleges and high schools to create and maintain safe and respectful working, learning and living environments for all. Our customized solutions are based on decades of research on the important role of a bystander in preventing incivility, harassment and violence.
Soteria Solutions has worked with military and other government organizations who are focused on and committed to the prevention of and response to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and associated retaliatory behaviors. We have developed custom Workplace Solutions to build bystander intervention capacity and skills for safe and respectful working and living environments.
Our Workplace solutions have been customized and implemented for leading global organizations including Bloomberg and government agencies including the DOD, NOAA, the United States Army and the United States Navy. Learn more - read the U.S. 21st TSC SHARP case study.
While we are pleased that the Executive Order is in place to make sexual assault in the military and DOD an offense in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, we know from our research and years of experience that more is needed.
Through multiple tools including focus groups and workplace climate surveys, we help our clients identify their organizational strengths and the organizational factors that are the root causes to a culture and work environment that are enabling and/or encouraging inappropriate behavior. These factors can be deeply rooted, but come to light through our collaborative approach.
If you are looking for a partner for a collaborative approach to affecting lasting change; eliminating sexual harassment and assault, discrimination, violence and other forms of incivility, whether a government agency or a corporation, please contact us.
It is our mission to make the world a better place, one organization at a time.
Sources:
1Acosta, Joie D., Matthew Chinman, and Amy L. Shearer, Countering Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment in the U.S. Military: Lessons from RAND Research. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2021. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1318-1.html.2https://www.cbsnews.com/news/military-sexual-harassment-domestic-violence-biden-executive-order/