Defense secretary Lloyd Austin demands US military sexual assault reports

[babylonsister]

Defense secretary Lloyd Austin demands US military sexual assault reports
Sun 24 Jan 2021 07.59 EST


In his first directive since taking office, US defense secretary Lloyd Austin has given his senior leaders two weeks to send him reports on sexual assault prevention programs in the military, and an assessment of what has worked and what hasn’t.

Austin’s memo, which went out Saturday, fulfills a commitment made to senators last week during confirmation hearings. Joe Biden’s pick, a retired army general, vowed to immediately address the problems of sexual assault and harassment in the ranks.

“This is a leadership issue,” Austin said in his two-page memo. “We will lead.”

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“You do agree that we can’t keep doing the same thing that we’ve been doing for the past decade?” Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, said during Austin’s confirmation hearing. “Do I have your commitment to be relentless on this issue until we can end the scourge of sexual violence in the military?”

Austin agreed, telling senators: “This starts with me and you can count on me getting after this on day one.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/24/defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-us-military-sexual-assault-reports