To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
STOP Act: Put an end to sexual violence in the military
I stand with Congresswoman Jackie Speier in support of the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act (STOP Act) to end military rape.
Why is this important?
Sexual violence in the U.S. military is a crisis. The Pentagon estimates that sexual assaults increased from 19,000 in 2011 to 26,000 in 2012. That's 71 sexual assaults EVERY DAY, and in roughly 56% of cases, the victims are men.
Making matters worse, each branch of the armed forces has its own judicial system. It's currently legal for base commanders to overturn a jury's guilty verdict, as happened at Aviano Air Force Base in February 2013.
The STOP Act takes the prosecution, reporting, oversight, investigation, and victim care of sexual assaults out of the normal military chain of command -- which has proven grossly ineffective -- and places jurisdiction in an autonomous Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office. Join us to help pass it.