News Blog

POD President Don Christensen Testimony at Defense Advisory Committee on Investigations, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces

Nov 19 2019

Chairwoman Martha Bashford ATTN: DAC-IPAD One Liberty Center 875 N. Randolph Street, Suite 150 Arlington, VA 22203 15 November 2019...

STATEMENT SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW LEGAL LOOPHOLE SETTING ACCUSED MILITARY RAPISTS FREE

Nov 18 2019

Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Friday that it would hear an appeal from the Justice Department to review a military...

STATEMENT Col Don Christensen’s testimony before DAC IPAD’s 15th meeting, November 15, 2019

Nov 15 2019

Chairwoman Martha Brashford ATTN: DAC-IPAD One Liberty Center 875 N. Randolph Street, Suite 150 Arlington, VA 22203 Madam Chair, Thank...

STATEMENT NEW PENTAGON REPORT FINDS SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE MILITARY MORE LIKELY TO RESULT IN POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER THAN COMBAT

Nov 06 2019

Washington DC – On Monday, the Department of Defense (DoD) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report that determined sexual...

Jenny Holzer’s “Thing Indescribable” Exhibit Sheds Light on Sexual Assault with Protect Our Defenders

Oct 23 2019

By Sibylle Whittam Recently, I toured the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. I loved the museum, but was blown away...

ABA Journal: ABE Grant Expands Services for Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault in the Military

Aug 29 2019

ABE Grant Expands Services for Victims of Rape and Sexual Assault in the Military By Amanda Robert September 1, 2019, 12:30...

STATEMENT AIR FORCE ENGAGES IN SMEAR CAMPAIGN AGAINST GEN. HYTEN’S ALLEGED VICTIM LED BY FORMER USAF SEC. WILSON & SEN. MCSALLY

Jul 31 2019

During yesterday’s Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing, Gen. Hyten’s defenders call into question the validity of Col. Spletstoser’s statement based...

STATEMENT AIR FORCE MISLEADS SENATORS AHEAD OF GEN. HYTEN CONFIRMATION HEARING BY CONTRADICTING FINDINGS OF ITS INVESTIGATION

Jul 30 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 30, 2019 Contact: Brian Purchia, 202.253.4330, brian@protectourdefenders.com ***STATEMENT*** AIR FORCE MISLEADS SENATORS AHEAD OF GEN. HYTEN...

STATEMENT PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS CALLS ON WHITE HOUSE TO WITHDRAW NOMINATION OF GEN. HYTEN FOLLOWING COL. SPLETSTOSER’S ALLEGATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT

Jul 29 2019

Washington, DC – Last Friday, Army Colonel Kathryn A. Spletstoser, who served two combat tours in Iraq and two in Afghanistan as...

Col. Christensen Comments on NYT Article: Army Col. Accuses Nominee for Vice Chair of Joint Chiefs of Staff of Sexual Assault

Jul 26 2019

July 26, 2019 Washington, DC – The link to the full article can be found here. Col. Don Christensen, who...

STATEMENT NEW REPORT SHOWS DRAMATIC GENDER GAP AT MILITARY ACADEMIES CAN BE TRACED BACK TO DISPARITY IN CONGRESSIONAL NOMINATIONS

Jul 23 2019

Numbers show women have rarely exceeded a quarter of the nominations submitted to the taxpayer-funded academies by Members of Congress...

STATEMENT NEW REPORT FROM MARINES SHOWS COSTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT CRISIS

Jul 18 2019

Washington DC – Today, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger acknowledged the U.S. Marine Corps’ failure to retain over 25,000 Marines...

Defense Department Ordered to Turn Over Documents on Military Sexual Assault

Jul 16 2019

July 16, 2019 New Haven, CT – On July 12, 2019, a U.S. District Court in Connecticut rejected multiple Defense Department...

GILLIBRAND WRITES TO ACTING SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ESPER TO EXPRESS CONCERNS OVER HANDLING OF GENERAL HYTEN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE AND ASK FOR THOROUGH REVIEW

Jul 12 2019

Gillibrand Urges Higher Level Analysis Following Reports that Nominee for Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John...

NDAA Passes with 61 Speier Provisions, Including Breakthroughs in Transgender Service, Legal Rights, Sexual Assault, Women’s Health, Wasteful Spending

Jul 12 2019

Office of Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) July 12, 2019 Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA) and two-hundred and nineteen...

House Adopts Connolly Amendment To Protect Domestic Violence Survivors from Gun Violence

Jul 11 2019

Office of Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) July 11, 2019 Washington, DC – Last night, the House of Representatives adopted...

Rep. Speier’s Bill Amending the Feres Doctrine to Allow Servicemembers to Sue for Medical Malpractice Included in House Defense Bill

Jul 11 2019

Office of Congresswoman Jackie Speier July 10, 2019 Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Jackie Speier’s (CA-14) bill creating a medical...

STATEMENT PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS CALLS ON CONGRESS TO PASS MJIA & REFORM BROKEN MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM

Jun 19 2019

June 13, 2019 Contact: Brian Purchia, 202.253.4330, brian@protectourdefenders.com ***STATEMENT*** PROTECT OUR DEFENDERS CALLS ON CONGRESS TO PASS MJIA & REFORM...

POD sends letter to Senators Tillis and Gillibrand, addressing the utilization of independent prosecutors in foreign military services

May 06 2019

April 25, 2019 Chairman Thom Tillis 113 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Ranking Member Kirsten Gillibrand 478 Russell...

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

Apr 24 2019

On March 6, 2019, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on sexual assault in the military, titled “Military...