A record number of sexual assaults in the military is being addressed in a bill proposed by freshman Congressman and veteran Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL).
Rep. Luna's bicameral measure, dubbed the "Stop Our Sexual Assault in the Military" (SOS) Act, had Representative Jared Moskowitz as a cosponsor (D-FL). would require service members to receive monthly training in sexual assault self-defense.
The fiscal year of 2021 saw a record high of sexual assaults across all six branches. Sexual assault and other unwanted sexual contact have been a worrying issue within the military, especially among the Navy. According to the Pentagon, 1.8% of male and 8.4% of female military members said they had experienced unwelcome sexual contact.
The Department of Defense (D0D) received the most allegations of sexual assault in FY 2021 than at any time since 2006, which is concerning, although the proportion of reports compared to the incidence rate actually fell.
In other words, although there are more instances of sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact, there are less reports of these crimes.
As a result, 60% of military women claim they cannot be guaranteed of receiving protection after reporting sexual assault.
Rep. Luna said, "When I served in the military, I witnessed the lack of self-defense and combat training. This bipartisan piece of legislation would ensure that out of the already-required physical training days each month for active duty service members, one of those days would be designated to self-defense/combat training."