Sex assault victims find help navigating military justice system

[ismnotwasm]

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — As an Army general faced court-martial for sexual assault this month, a military lawyer sat each day in the front row of the gallery, a few feet behind the prosecutors.

Unlike lawyers trying to win a criminal conviction against Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair, Capt. Cassie L. Fowler’s sole mission was to protect the woman at the center of the case — a captain who said her commander twice forced her to perform oral sex and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about their three-year affair.


Known as a special victims counsel, or SVC for short, Fowler is part of a program started by the Pentagon last year after long-standing complaints that the military has too often treated those reporting rapes and sexual assaults as if they were the ones who did something wrong.

Officials say they hope the SVCs will help victims navigate the complexity of the military justice system and provide support.

In the months since the program was expanded to all military branches, the new corps of about 200 handpicked and specially trained lawyers has represented hundreds of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen as the alleged perpetrators were investigated, tried and, in some cases, convicted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sex-assault-victims-find-help-navigating-military-justice-system/2014/03/30/8a90732e-b841-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html

[giftedgirl77]

1. This isn't the only program & defintly not the best program

as far as it goes to taking care of the victim. There is the SHARP program, these are senior enlisted Soldiers specially trained to deal with victims of sexual assault. There are Soldiers with this training all the way down to acompany level & this is someone they can go to to report both a restricted or nonrestricted report. They also escort them anywhere they need to go & will get them in contact with whomever they need to see.

I was a paralegal for the prosecution for over 8 years, I saw waaaayyy to many sexual assault cases & was just recently medically retired @ 100% disabled. I might be broken but I'm like rainman when it comes to Military Justice.

My husband is actually a SHARP for a brigade here & it gave us an amazing chance to get the SHARPs, paralegals, & JAs all on the same page. He just got back from a 3mth course, they have finally updated the program again. He's now a regional trainer for the region on all things SHARP related.

With the SVC's for quite a while now one must be assigned to every case but they are assigned to regions rather than installations. Therefore, they are supervising attorneys to the main JA assigned to the case.

[mercuryblues]

2. +1

for all your family has done.

[giftedgirl77]

3. Aww thanks

I loved my job, that part of my brain still works. The rest of it is deteriorating. Hopefully they will figure out how top slow it down or stop it.

[mopinko]

4. do you sleep well?

i read a very recent article that they finally found out what it was about deep sleep that the brain needed. turned out that the cerebrospinal fluid pressure gets ramped up, and sort of hoses it out. there was immediately thought that this might be part of the dementia cycle. i think they already did have a link between that and poor sleep.

a sleep study and treatment is good, but these little activity trackers can tell you a whole lot, too. i have a fitbit that has really helped me nail it down, as mine is disrupted in a bunch of different ways. sleeping well now, and feeling waaaaaay better mentally.
take care, and thanks for what your family has done.
keep up the good work.

[ismnotwasm]

5. Good to know

Thank you!