US military commanders often ignore reports of sexual assaults in the military for fear of reflection on their careers, says former Pentagon official Michael Maloof.
Often these reports �œare overlooked by the commanders, by local commanders, because they do not want to raise any hackles about it, they don�™t want any aspersions cast on them and they [reports] also reflect on their careers,” Maloof told Press TV on Sunday.
The Pentagon says reports of sexual assaults in the US military increased by an unprecedented 46 percent this year.
People within the military are opposing a plan by Congress to �œtake the commanders out of the chain of command in terms of investigation so that people who do complain about this can go directly to prosecutors,” Maloof noted.
�œThere is a conflict between the commanders, many of the commanders I should say in the military, with the direction that Congress wants ahead with this and taking them out of the loop in terms of complaints.”
The victims of sexual assault in the US military are often �œostracized,” while perpetrators �œget away” with their crimes, he added.
The number of reported sexual assaults in the US military was 3,553 between January and September, according to the Pentagon, up from 2,434 reports over the same period the previous year.
The report also showed that the number of sexual assault complaints rose across all service branches of the US military – Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines Corps, and Coast Guard.
AT/HJ
Source: Press TV