This weekend was transformative, to say the least. Certainly for me, but even for the hundreds of soldiers in the Ohio Army National Guard Battalion 1-174th, who tossed the sexual assault and prevention training manual out the window and instead chose to play THE INVISIBLE WAR during their mandatory annual training.

I had the best experience speaking with them afterwards - something I never thought would be a remote possibility. I wanted to share a note that I received from one of the Captains following the training. I can barely believe this is real.

Please read it and share it and know that each action you take to spread the word about this film, and the epidemic of military sexual assault is making a real difference. In Congress, at the Pentagon, for survivors, and even on military bases across the world - where we need it most. I had my doubts, but it really is true. Together, we are #NotInvisible.

26,000 men and women were raped last year while serving in the United States Armed Forces. That breaks down to 70 assaults every day. And now, two officers - including the head of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Response and Prevention program - have been arrested for the very crimes they’re supposed to prevent. 

Enough is enough.

It’s time for serious changes to be made to the Uniform Code of Military Justice, moving the decision to investigate and prosecute sexual assault out of the chain of command. This morning, Senators Gillibrand, Collins, Boxer, Johanns, Begich, Blumenthal, Coons, Franken, Hirono, Mikulski, Pryor and Shaheen, as well as Representatives Gabbard, Benishek, Hanna, and Sinema, introduced new bicameral legislation to do just that.

This bill, the Military Justice Improvement Act, would also end commanders’ ability to overturn sexual assault convictions and instead give that discretion to experienced trial counsel. 

But it won't happen alone. We need your help to make this bill into law. Support survivors and call your Senators TODAY! Ask them to join the fight and co-sponsor this bill to take the adjudication of military sexual assault out of the chain of command, for once and for all.

CLICK HERE to find your Senators, and watch this video to learn more about the military’s broken justice system and why this bill can fix it:

Every 21 minutes another service member is assaulted. Let’s make sure they see the justice they’ve earned.

Together, we are #NotInvisible.

This weekend, the first two female combat veterans in Congress—Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—joined Candy Crowley on CNN’s State of the Union to discuss the rising number of military sexual assaults.  And both of them advocated moving the power to prosecute outside of the chain of command—along with dishonorable discharge for those convicted of sexual assault in the military.  

Watch the interview here.

“We have to make sure that it’s a victim-centered response, from the moment that the victim makes that report all the way through to the point where the perpetrator is prosecuted and charged and punished,”said Rep. Gabbard.

On Monday, MAY 13th, we will start broadcasting THE INVISIBLE WAR on public TV stations across the US - working to raise awareness and shed light on one of the most shameful secrets of our time: rape within the military.

Providing public access to our film couldn’t come at a more necessary time.

Last week, the Department of Defense released the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) annual report and it showed a significant spike – an increase of 34%. In 2012, over 26,000 service members were sexually assaulted. To add insult to injury, the report came out two days after an Air Force officer in charge of sexual assault prevention was himself arrested for sexual battery. Case in point.

See what one of our champions on the issue, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Lawrence O'Donnell said about the issue, the latest stats, and THE INVISIBLE WAR, by clicking here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Monday, 6 May 2013

CONTACT: Brett Abrams : 516-841-1105 : brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com

110k Demand Senate Act Now to Stop Rape In the Military

** www.signon.org/sign/stand-with-survivors **

WASHINGTON, DC - In a new petition on MoveOn.org’s online petition platform, Trina McDonald, a survivor of sexual assault during her time in the U.S. Navy, is urging the Senate to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to move the decision to prosecute sexual assault in the military out of the chain of command. Nearly 110,000 people have signed Trina’s petition since she launched her campaign a few weeks ago.

VIEW THE PETITION HERE: www.signon.org/sign/stand-with-survivors

According to estimates from the Department of Defense (DOD), 19,000 service men and women are sexually assaulted while serving in the United States military every year. However, the Pentagon estimates that 86% of cases go unreported—often because survivors who report their assault are subject to personal and professional retaliation. The DOD’s Sexual Assault and Prevention Office (SAPRO) has yet to release its annual report of sexual assaults for 2012.

The petition calls on the Senate to amend the UCMJ and move the decision to prosecute outside of the chain of command to avoid conflicts of interest and help ensure that rape in the military is seriously investigated and prosecuted. Trina, whose story was featured in the Oscar-nominated documentary The Invisible War, was repeatedly drugged and raped by military police while serving at the remote Adnak Naval Operating Station in Alaska

“It’s time to take action and ensure survivors of sexual assault in the military are not invisible and receive the justice they deserve. Congress must amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and move the prosecution of military sexual assault out of the chain of command,” explained Trina McDonald. “Survivors should not suffer retribution for speaking up, and rape should never be an ‘occupational hazard.’ Only Congress can change the UCMJ to create a real, working system for prosecuting sexual predators in the military – and ultimately putting an end to sexual assault in the military.”

A series of high-profile military sexual misconduct and rape cases, including the conviction and dismissal of Air Force Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, and a widespread investigation at Lackland Air Force Base that resulted in the dismissal of several basic training instructors, have brought public and political attention to the issue. Both the House and Senate have held congressional hearings on the issue this term, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is set to introduce new legislation this month that would establish special military prosecutors for sexual assault cases.

Read more about Sen. Gillibrand’s upcoming legislation here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/29/opinion/next-steps-on-military-sexual-assaults.html?smid=pl-share

For more information, or for interviews with Trina McDonald, please contact Brett Abrams at 516-841-1105 or by email at brett@fitzgibbonmedia.com.

# # # 

SignOn.org is the non-profit, online campaign platform from MoveOn.org that lets anyone start and run their own online campaigns.

Wheels are definitely turning in Washington 

This week, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA-9) appointed UC Hastings law professor Elizabeth Hillman to serve on the military’s Sexual Assault Review Panel. 

Professor Hillman is the president of the National Institute for Military Justice, which is “a nonprofit dedicated to promoting fairness in and public understanding of military justice worldwide.”  She’s a military sexual assault researcher and published author on the military justice system.

But here’s the best news about Hillman’s appointment: she supports taking the prosecution of violent crimes—including sexual assault—out of the chain of command.

Did you see this? Just today, The New York Times wrote an editorial detailing the path forward on ending military sexual assault and highlighting some promising proposals from one of our champions, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Next Steps on Military Sexual Assaults

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD
Published: April 28, 2013

In the last big health survey of active-duty American military personnel, conducted in 2011 and released last week, one in five female service members said they had been subjected to unwanted sexual contact since joining the military. That shocking statistic squares with other alarming indicators of the military’s pervasive culture of sexual misconduct. It also underscores the urgent need to change that culture.

Despite promises of zero tolerance, the Pentagon has nothing less than a sexual assault crisis on its hands. The Defense Department estimated last year that as many as 19,000 service members are sexually assaulted annually. Only a small fraction of the incidents, 3,192 in 2011, are reported, and a mere 10 percent of those cases proceed to trial — hardly enough to create meaningful deterrence to criminal behavior and establish accountability. And sexual assaults at the three elite military academies are at record numbers, according to Pentagon data. Studies have shown sexual trauma to be the leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder among servicewomen.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, is offering two promising bills aimed generally at improving conditions for women in the military and reforming the way the military handles sexual assault cases. The first measure, introduced last week, would allow women to use their own money to pay for abortions in military medical facilities. Under current law, military doctors may perform abortions only in cases of rape, incest or when the woman’s life is endangered, an appalling restriction on a woman’s right to make her own childbearing decisions. The rule also has the effect of denying abortion care to military rape victims who are unwilling to risk their careers and privacy by coming forward.

The second bill, to be introduced next month, seeks to give women confidence that they can eventually receive justice by repairing a key structural flaw in the military’s handling of assault cases. As things stand, senior officers with no legal training but ample conflicts of interest can decide whether court-martial charges can be brought against subordinates and whether to throw out a verdict once it is rendered. In one recent case, Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, an Air Force commander, dismissed without explanation the aggravated sexual assault conviction of an Air Force fighter pilot, Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, permitting Colonel Wilkerson’s reinstatement.

Ms. Gillibrand would leave decisions in serious military cases, including sexual assaults, to an independent prosecutor and end the power of senior commanders to quash a verdict. A similar measure that would create a system for handling sexual trauma cases outside the chain of command has been introduced in the House by Jackie Speier, a California Democrat. To his credit, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel supports eliminating the discretion of senior officers to overturn jury findings in serious cases, still leaving defendants robust rights of appeal. But he has stopped short of endorsing the changes necessary to give impartial military prosecutors the power to investigate and prosecute offenses.

Opponents of reform seem in denial about the severity of the problem while raising overblown fears that handling felony-level cases outside the chain of command would ruin military discipline. What that argument misses is that military discipline is already badly broken when the many victims of sexual assaults have almost zero faith that justice will be served and their careers protected if they report them.

Read the full article here.

According to Politico this morning, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will review Article 60 of the Uniform Code of Justice today—meaning Sec. Hagel will assess a commander's ability to dismiss charges in all cases, including instances of military sexual assault.

Article 60 of the UCMJ grants the “convening authority” the sole power to dismiss any charge brought by a court martial.  This means that even if a service member is found guilty of rape, the convening authority—who is in the rapist’s chain of command and could therefore face a conflict of interest—can completely invalidate any punishment and return the convicted to service. 

Secretary Hagel ordered a full review of Article 60 after an Air Force general at Aviano Air Base dismissed charges against Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, who had been convicted of sexual assault.  The case sparked outrage publically and politically, culminating in a Senate Armed Services hearing on the subject.

In the hearing, Senator Claire McCaskill demanded justice for survivors of military rape:

Sec. Hagel’s review is a huge step forward in ensuring justice for survivors of military sexual assault, and we look forward to the results of his analysis.  Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks.  

During yesterday's Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee hearing on military sexual assault, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand refused to accept rhetoric over reality, taking military leaders to task for claiming that commanders need convening authority--the definitive power to determine when to hear cases of sexual assault and when to overturn convictions--to maintain good discipline and order.

Check out the video of Sen. Gillibrand's questioning: 

Join us in thanking Sen. Gillibrand for her leadership on this issue on Twitter:

Thanks @SenGillibrand for your leadership during yest's #msthearing! For more from @Invisible_War: http://bit.ly/Ydhm9g #NotInvisible

You can also watch the entire hearing, including a panel of moving survivor testimonies, on C-SPAN here.