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Sex assault victims find help navigating military justice system [View all]
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.
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
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