WASHINGTON – Major steps in the Coast Guard's effort to eliminate sexual assault in its workforce were taken Wednesday as leaders released a new Coast Guard sexual assault prevention and response program manual formalizing improvements to its sexual assault prevention and response program, as well as announcing the seniority of officers allowed to act on certain sexual assault cases is being raised.
"These actions are major steps toward achieving our goal of eliminating sexual assault within the Coast Guard by ensuring a culture of prevention through improved education and training, response capability, victim support and accountability," said Coast Guard acting commandant, Vice Adm. Sally Brice-O'Hara.
Major improvements in the program manual include greater protection for sexual assault victims, enhanced accountability for response by unit commanders, and more rigorous and defined reporting procedures for all reports of sexual assault. The SAPR program manual, which replaces a previous Coast Guard instruction, is the culmination of a multi-year effort to put in place a more effective SAPR program across the service.
The service also announced the handling of certain sexual assault cases will be made only by officers holding the rank of captain or higher who possess special court-martial convening authority, beginning June 28. This will ensure a senior level of review by the Coast Guard's most experienced officers from the outset of certain sexual assault cases as well as ensure that the full measure of response, victim support and criminal investigative resources are brought to bear. This action aligns the service with a directive issued April 20 by Department of Defense Secretary Leon Panetta directing the same for the handling of sexual assault cases within components of the Defense Department.
The June 28 implementation date adopted by all five military branches coincides with the effective date of section 541 of the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 that reforms Unified Code of Military Justice offenses relating to sexual misconduct.
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