Reports of sexual assault in the Air Force continue to rise while the frequency of the crime remains stable — a paradox that could signify growing trust in the military justice system, the two-star general in charge of the service's sexual assault prevention and response office said Sept. 10.
Reporting leapt 33 percent from September 2012 to September 2013 and is on track to increase yet again this fiscal year, although probably not as dramatically, Maj. Gen. Gina Grosso said in an interview with Air Force Times.
"We're very cautious about trying to interpret that," Grosso said. But Defense Department survey data shows incidents of unwanted sexual contact — which can range from groping to rape — have changed little since 2006, while reports are on the rise.
Similarly, Grosso said, "whenever we do training on this topic, we see a spike in reporting. The more comfortable we get talking about it, ... the more comfortable victims are coming forward. That's one of the things we've got to continue in the future."
The Air Force SAPR office, headquartered at the Pentagon, grew from a staff of four to more than 30 in June 2013 following the arrest of its former chief on a sexual battery charge for which he was later cleared. In addition to putting a two-star in charge of the office rather than a lieutenant colonel, the revamped office now employs lawyers, analysts, an investigator and a social worker, among others.
Grosso, who took over as director in February, called the changes "the next evolution" in the Air Force's battle against sexual assault.
"Just having more people is making a huge difference," she said. "We are moving in the right direction. But we are by no means where we want to be."
Getting there will require some changes to policy and training, Grosso said.
"We're doing a lot of training," she said. "What we're finding is we're teaching the same thing over and over."
The SAPR office is working on a curriculum that would grow training with airmen's service.
"We have all the levers in place on response. Those pieces are in place and we have to continue to hone them," Grosso said. "The prevention piece is very hard. I wish there was some magic bullet, but there isn't. We need to get to 'Prevention 201.' "
Meanwhile, airmen can expect fewer lectures, PowerPoint presentations and campaigns.
Last spring, airmen trained by their base's sexual assault response coordinator led small group discussions for the annual SAPR stand-down day.
"When you can get a peer leading the group and talking about these problems in a language they can understand, it's way more influential," Grosso said.
One facilitator at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, asked who among them knew someone who had been sexually assaulted. Twenty of 22 people raised their hands, driving home the prevalence of the crime, she said.
In another instance, an airman shared his experience of being sexually assaulted. "We didn't know he was going to do that. He made it safe for everybody else," she said.
"It's such a devastating crime. It's too hard to believe this could randomly happen to you. ... When a peer is willing to tell you their experience, you know it's not a bunch of false reports or the victim's fault," Grosso said.
The Air Force plans to continue publishing a list of sexual assault convictions, which it began last September as one way to hold perpetrators of the crime accountable. But Grosso said she wants to take that one step further.
"I want the story. That's just the end. That's the last chapter. There's a lot that happened before," she said.
The SAPR office is also working on a joint federal travel regulation that would allow the government to pay for, at a minimum, an advocate to accompany victims to hearings and courts-martial out of the area.
Another policy change under consideration is expanding restricted reporting, which allows victims to seek medical care and counseling for a sexual assault without triggering a criminal investigation.
"We have mandatory reporters: anybody in your chain of command, anybody in law enforcement," Grosso said. That means an airman who confides in a trusted first-line supervisor or a friend in security forces is obligated to report the crime — launching an investigation.
"If we can give victims more people who aren't mandatory reporters … they can take you to the SARC and you still preserve the restricted report," Grosso said.
The proposed change is controversial, she said, but one that was recommended to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and the House and Senate Armed Services committees by a sexual assault crimes panel in June.
The change would give a victim "the help they need so they can become a survivor," she said. "The question will be, is it the right time to expand some of this? Do we have enough trust in the force and certainly externally to do this?"
