December 9, 2011

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you about a disturbing problem in our military that must and can be fixed. In November I introduced legislation to reform how sexual assault and rape in the military are treated. For too long the military's response to rape victims has been 'Take an aspirin and go to bed.'

The Pentagon has studied the incidence of military rapes for 25 years, yet rapes and assaults continue. The Department of Defense estimates that there were 19,000 incidents in 2010, but only 13.5% were reported and only 8% resulted in prosecution. A total of 465 service members were administratively discharged or punished through the court-martial process - that amounts to 2.5%, an unacceptable result for a justice system.

To end this injustice, the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act - the STOP Act - would take reporting, oversight, investigation and victim care of sexual assaults out of the hands of the military's normal chain of command and place jurisdiction in a new, autonomous Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office comprised of civilian and military experts. Within two days, 53 of my colleagues cosponsored this legislation.

Congresswoman Speier and MST survivors at a press conference at the National Press Club, November 17, 2011.

Since the beginning of this year, I have been talking about survivors of military rape on the House Floor. I will not stop telling these stories until we eliminate this indefensible stain from our armed forces. You can watch the twelve speeches I have given here.

If you are a victim of sexual assault or know someone who is, I encourage you to send me your story to stopmilitaryrape@mail.house.gov.

We owe our brave men and women in the military a justice system that protects them, not punishes them when they become victims of sexual assault or rape committed by other service members.

All the Best,