The current issue of Mother Jones magazine has several excellent articles about violence against women, which I highly recommend to the readers of this blog. However, their coverage of VAW in the military has several inaccuracies. The Miles Foundation offers the following clarifications:
“-the victim advocate program was authorized by Congress in 1994;
-the implementation of the program does not coincide with the recommendations
of the various task forces; Army commenced implementation in 1998/1999; the
Air Force commenced implementation of victim support liaisons following the
enactment of the Ronald Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
Year 2005;
-recommendations of numerous task forces, approximately 23 over several
decades, have not been fully implemented; and
-the chaplains within the Department of Defense do NOT possess
confidentiality or privilege in cases of domestic or sexual violence;
confidentiality for chaplains is limited to expressions of faith and conscience.
-the prevalence numbers presented are suspect due to the barriers to
reporting including fear of career impact and lack of privacy privilege;
-the nondisclosure policy for victims of domestic violence has been on the
table since 1998 as proposed by the late Senator Paul Wellstone; Sen. Wellstone
successfully inserted an amendment to the Defense Authorization package for
fiscal year 2003 to provide nondisclosure for victims of domestic violence and
the victim advocates within the Department of Defense; to date, the
confidentiality policy, effective June 15th, does not include victims of domestic
violence associated with the military;
-recommendations of the task force on domestic violence were preceded by
hundreds of recommendations contained within numerous reports, briefing papers and research from 1990-1999;
-recommendations of over 23 panels, commissions, task forces, working groups
and conferences have not been fully implemented by the US Armed Forces; and
-numerous Congressional mandates and authorizations have not been fully
implemented by the US Armed Forces relative to domestic and sexual violence.
—————-
Unfortunately, earlier this week, Jill LaRocque, an airman (sic) assigned to the 741st missile security forces squadron at Malmstrom Air Force Base near Great Falls, Montana was strangled to death by her fiancé, Airman 1st Class John David Trotter. It will be interesting to see how this case is prosecuted. The military has a long history of not taking appropriate action to stop violence against women within its ranks. A Randolph Air Force Base military judge in Texas has halted the trial of 1st Lt. Joseph Harding and demanded that a civilian rape counselor, Jennifer Bier, turn over the confidential records of counseling sessions held with the victim. Ms. Bier has been threatened with jail time for not turning over the records.
If the court prevails, it will send a chilling message to all women seeking help following a rape, particularly those involving military personnel. This is in sharp contrast to the voluminous rhetoric from the military insisting that they intend to take substantive action to stop violence against women.
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