Protect Our Defenders News Blog

 

Letter to Senators Tillis and Gillibrand in Response to Hearing on Military Services’ Prevention of and Response to Sexual Assault

On March 6, 2019, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on sexual assault in the military, titled “Military Services’ Prevention of and Response to Sexual Assault”. POD President, COL Don Christensen (USAF, ret.) testified on the first panel regarding the need for the military to move away from a command-based referral system for sexual assault cases.

Following COL Christensen’s testimony, the Judge Advocate Generals for each branches of the military testified regarding their perspective on sexual assault prevention and response.

In response to the testimony of the Judge Advocate Generals and comments made by Senator Gillibrand and Senator Tillis, COL Christensen sent a letter to reinforce the need for a change in the current command-based system.

COL Christensen’s testimony can be found here.

The letter sent to Senator’s Gillibrand and Tillis can be found here.