This year’s National Defense Authorization Act, an annual must-pass piece of legislation that authorizes Department of Defense spending, included several changes to how sexual harassment and assault are prosecuted within the US military.
Along with designating sexual harassment as a separate offense, the NDAA changed how sexual harassment complaints are handled within the military. Military commanders now have to forward complaints of sexual harassment to independent investigators.
Commanders have also been removed from “decisions related to the prosecution of covered crimes,” which include rape, sexual assault, murder and manslaughter. Those decisions will instead be moved to an Office of the Special Trial Counsel that will be created in each service, the NDAA states.
“While there’s no doubt that those are important advances, this bill does not reform the military justice system in a way that will truly help survivors get justice,” Gillibrand said in December.
The White House called this year’s NDAA “a historical point … with meaningful reform of the military justice system and handling of handling of sexual assault cases.”
“The President believes that this legislation takes groundbreaking steps to improve the response and … prevention of sexual assault in the military,” White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters traveling with the President to Kansas City, Missouri in December.
Robert Capovilla, a partner at Capovilla & Williams and a former US Army Judge Advocate, believes this step sends a clear message to military service members that allegations of sexual harassment will be taken seriously.
“It sends a message from our President, our Commander in Chief, that sexual harassment allegations are going to be taken very seriously,” Capovilla said. “I think any intent to eradicate sexual assault or harassment from the ranks is a good step and certainly a necessary step.”
CNN’s DJ Judd contributed to this report.