McSally was raped, so she’s wrong?
Ignore the haters, Sen. Martha McSally. You just keep being you.
McSally has been criticized for the changes she’s backing to curb sexual assault in the military. Some say she isn’t pressing for big enough reforms, particularly since she says she was raped by a superior while in the Air Force.
McSally’s testimony took a lot of people by surprise. She was a trailblazer — the first female pilot to fly in combat — who opened a lot of doors for women in the military. Yet, as the Arizona Republican revealed during an emotional congressional hearing in March, she didn’t initially report the assault. And when she did, she said “it felt like the system was raping me all over again.”
McSally is hardly alone. The Pentagon estimates about 20,500 service men and women experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2018 — a sharp increase from 2016, the last time the anonymous survey was conducted.
But only about 30 percent of victims reported sexual assault to their superiors. Too many of our nation’s finest still aren’t coming forward for fear that it will ruin their career, or because they don’t think their superiors will take their case seriously.
McSally asked military brass to study ideas to improve investigations and bolster accountability, but she insisted the task force not shake up the current command structure, which leaves ultimate authority of deciding how to handle allegations to commanders.
McSally has resisted a major shakeup because she wants commanders to drive this change. They are ultimately responsible for the care, honor and integrity of those they oversee, she said during a May 15 press conference.
The task force recommended additional training for commanders, earlier involvement for judges and more resources to better collect evidence in these cases. It also suggested making sexual harassment a crime in the military code — a step above the civil violation that it is in civilian courts.
McSally has introduced legislation to codify parts of the report and conduct additional research on prevention programs. Her bill focuses heavily on getting investigators and prosecutors to collaborate earlier in the process, and to strengthen cases before they ever make it to a commander for a final decision.
McSally says she wants to ensure that investigations are not just more timely but more thorough. The need for timely investigations was repeated loud and clear when she visited Arizona military bases to gather their feedback, McSally noted.
But critics say that keeping commanders involved dissuades too many service members from reporting an assault. They would rather an independent prosecutor handle serious criminal cases without commanders’ involvement, as proposed by Democratic New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. Her bill would still give commanders full discretion over whether to prosecute serious but uniquely military crimes.
Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) also are pressing the Pentagon to study the feasibility of prosecuting sexual assault cases outside the traditional chain of command.
I’ll admit: I like that approach better, in theory.
But McSally is right that lasting change can only come from within. Until everyone from officer to commander believes that sexual assault and harassment is unacceptable, even the best independent system will fail its victims. (Also note that we civilians do a lousy job of reporting and convicting these crimes.)
McSally is an incrementalist, stemming back to her tenure in the U.S. House. She has always been about what’s most feasible — and what has realistic support to pass.
It’s unfair to insinuate that because McSally has experienced sexual assault in the military firsthand, she is somehow betraying what happened to her by working within the system, instead of blowing it up.
This isn’t a new issue. Many have tried to root out the scourge over the years. And many have failed.
If McSally can make some small but meaningful progress by working with the military, not against it, she deserves our thanks and praise.