Ayotte Sponsors Bill to Address Military Sex Assaults

U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-NH, on Tuesday spoke on the Senate floor regarding a bill she is co-sponsoring that addresses the increase in sexual assaults, reported and unreported, within the military.

Along with U.S. Senator Patty Murray, D-WA, Ayotte, of Nashua, introduced the Combating Military Sexual Assault (MSA) Act of 2013.  Ayotte said this bill would address a number of gaps within current law and policy and build upon the steps already in place by the U.S. Department of Defense  to address what she called a "serious problem in our military."

"According to DoD estimates, there were about 19,000 cases of military sexual assault in 2011 alone. Of these, 3,192 were reported, leaving thousands of victims to face the aftermath while their assailants escape justice. That number rose to 26,000 cases in 2012 with less than 3,400 of those cases being reported," according to a statement posted on Ayotte's official Website.

You can watch the YouTube clip of Ayotte's comments uploaded with this story.

According to the DoD 2012 Workplace and Gender Relations Survey of Active Duty Members, which is also uploaded here, more than 50 percent of reported assaults involved drug or alcohol use by the victim or the perpetrator; two-thirds of assaults happened on military installations and 41 percent happened during work/duty hours. More than half the assaults involved some manner of physical force and 29 percent of incidents included threats of physical or reputational harm.

"As a prosecutor in New Hampshire, and as Attorney General, I saw the real need to address what is too often a silent crime, victims often suffer in silence for fear of coming forward and not being supported," Ayotte said.

"It's a serious and unacceptable crime, with lasting emotional and physical impact that can last for years and throughout a lifetime," said Ayotte, adding that not only is sexual assault unacceptable among the general population but particularly within the military.

"In the military it can damage unit morale, readiness, and the well-earned reputation of those who serve honorably," Ayotte said. "We must aggresively tackle this problem."