Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said Sunday that she would sign legislation protecting sexual assault victims in the military because there must be a “true path for justice” in a culture that stigmatizes reporting assault.
“This legislation is so important,” Gabbard said. “Because it provides that path outside of the chain of command where you know that there is no one, whether it’s your team leader, or platoon leader, or your first sergeant or your commander, there is no one who will be able to stop your pursuit of justice and accountability if you’re a victim of assault in the military.”
“I believe that we still today don’t know how rampant sexual assault in the military is, because there is still a fear of retaliation,” she said. “There is a stigma. And people who don’t want to be known as ‘that one.’ She or he is ‘that one’ who went against the team, who turned their back...And we know people ourselves who have gone through this and felt like they had no place to turn.”