The problem of sexual assault in the military jumped to the forefront in Washington, D.C. yesterday as the Pentagon released a survey estimating that 26,000 people in the armed forces were sexually assaulted last year, up from 19,000 in 2010, and an angry President Obama and Congress demanded action, the New York Times website reports today (May 8, 2013).
The study, based on a confidential survey sent to 108,000 active-duty service members, was released two days after Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski -- the officer in charge of sexual assault prevention programs for the Air Force -- was arrested and charged with sexual battery for grabbing a woman's breasts and buttocks in an Arlington, Virginia parking lot.
At a White House news conference, Obama expressed exasperation with the Pentagon's attempts to bring sexual assault under control. "The bottom line is, I have no tolerance for this," Obama said. "If we find out somebody's engaging in this stuff, they've got to be held accountable, prosecuted, stripped of their positions, court-martialed, fired, dishonorably discharged. Period."
The president added that he had ordered Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel "to step up our game exponentially" to prevent sex crimes and said he wanted military victims of sexual assault to know that "I've got their backs."
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