Bipartisan Bill Would Allow Servicemembers to Sue the Military for Sexual Assault 

Washington, DC – Protect Our Defenders (POD) expressed its full support for the Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act, bipartisan legislation introduced Wednesday by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and John Kennedy (R-LA) that would, for the first time, allow service members to sue the military for sexual assault, sexual harassment, wrongful distribution of intimate images, and related misconduct. For almost a decade, POD has been working with members of Congress alongside survivors, family members, and loved ones to advance this critical reform.

POD is currently representing survivors in the Fort Hood case through its Pro Bono Legal Network – recently expanded through a new partnership with Volare – offering free, confidential legal support and stepping in where the military has repeatedly failed to provide the support required under law. Suspended Army gynecologist Maj. Blaine McGraw faces 273 specifications involving 96 alleged victims across two military installations over seven years. As a Senate aide confirmed this week, the Fort Hood case is exactly why we need this legislation. The Congressional Budget Office estimates 120,000 servicemembers would file successful claims under this bill in its first decade – a figure that reflects how persistent and widespread the failure has been.

Standing in the way has been the Feres doctrine – a 75-year-old legal barrier that bars service members from suing the military for sexual misconduct by treating assault as an “incident of service,” denying survivors a right guaranteed to every other American worker. POD has fought to dismantle it in court: in 2022, POD filed an amicus brief in Spletstoser v. Hyten, supporting a landmark Ninth Circuit ruling that found it implausible for sexual assault to be treated as an incident to military service. But that precedent is limited to the Ninth Circuit. The Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act would extend that principle to every service member in every court in the country, building on the Stayskal Act of 2019, which created a limited exception for military medical malpractice, by extending civil accountability to sexual misconduct.

Over the past year, the Trump administration and Secretary Hegseth have systematically dismantled the protections servicemembers depend on to stay safe and seek justice: eliminating independent military prosecutors and firing the top JAG lawyers from the Army, Navy, and Air Force; overhauling military legal offices to weaken independent oversight; pausing Sexual Assault Prevention and Response training; issuing guidance that discourages reporting; and cutting victim services.

Congress mandated that the military inform survivors of outside support services like Protect Our Defenders – a requirement the Pentagon continues to defy. The Army provides the best legal counsel for the accused and none for victims. This bill would give survivors the accountability that the Pentagon has spent a year taking away. Senators Shaheen and Kennedy have shown what it means to actually stand with servicemembers. Congress must follow their lead.

Protect Our Defenders Senior Vice President Josh Connolly, former Chief of Staff to Rep. Jackie Speier, released the following statement:

“Survivors have never asked for sympathy. They’ve asked for accountability, and for decades, the law has given them everything but. This bill finally changes that. It tells every service member that when the institution they trusted betrays them, they will have a way to make it answer.

“We’ve walked alongside these survivors through the worst moments of their lives, and we are not slowing down now. Congress has a rare, bipartisan chance to do something that actually matters. They should seize it and pass this bill.”

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About Protect Our Defenders:
Protect Our Defenders is the pre-eminent national human rights organization dedicated to ending sexual violence, victim retaliation, misogyny, and discrimination in the military, and combating a culture that has allowed abuse to persist. POD provides free, confidential advocacy and legal support to servicemembers, veterans, and civilians while advancing systemic reform.Learn more at protectourdefenders.com.