Obama sustains effort on military sex abuse

According to president Barack Obama, U.S. military leaders are ashamed of their failure to end sexual abuse in the armed services. Obama has pledged to leave “no stone unturned” in the effort to end the abuse.

Obama has asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey to lead the process of eliminating the problem. Obama wants Hagel and Dempsey to discuss reports showing that over 26,000 military members may have been assaulted last year.

Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Ray Odierno acknowledged that his service is failing in its efforts to stop sexual assault. He released a public statement stating that “a bedrock of trust” has been violated due to a string of recent misconduct cases. “It is time we take on the fight against sexual assault and sexual harassment as our primary mission,” Odierno said.

There seems to be few clear solutions in ending sexual assault other than improved training or changes to how the military prosecutes sexual crimes. Dempsey has noted that the military is losing the trust of women by not fixing the problem.

The latest sexual assault occurred earlier this week and involved an Army soldier who was assigned to prevent such crimes.