The Pentagon’s sex assault problem: bullying, vengeance the norm

The Pentagon’s sex assault problem: bullying, vengeance the norm

Defense Department leadership is struggling to define what qualifies as retaliation against sex assault victims.

The Pentagon is struggling to define retaliation as it seeks to stem the worrying tide of sexual assault allegations within its ranks.

The Pentagon is looking to stamp out acts of bullying or vengeance against victims of sexual assault, and has released an analysis of a sexual assault survey that was released late last year, according to an Associated Press report.

The report notes that there have been difficulties in gathering data on retaliation, and survey questions could be misinterpreted, or that retaliatory incidents could have been overcounted.

It raises a difficult question: What is retaliation? Is a person who refuses to sit somewhere in the dining hall, certainly not illegal in any other context, attempting to intimidate or retaliate against a victim? Is a tweet or an Instagram photo a form of retaliation?

Such subtle degrees of bullying are difficult to decipher, and that is the problem Pentagon leadership faces right now as it seeks to get a handle on an issue that has hung like a dark cloud over the Defense Department.

A recent RAND study concluded that about 60 percent of sexual assault victims think that commanders or peers retaliated against them, and members of Congress have grilled Pentagon leadership during hearings about the issue, urging them to do more to protect whistleblowers.

However, Pentagon leaders say sometimes victims incorrectly identify non-retaliatory events as vengeance, such as when they are disciplined for illegal drug or alcohol use in connection with the assault, or if they are no longer invited to parties by peers.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced four new initiatives that would seek to address the issue by improving training and prevention of retaliation.

Survey data suggests that victims of sexual assault typically see retaliation in the form of social backlash from their peers or co-workers.

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