Despite some steps taken by the Department of Defense (DoD), sexual assault and harassment prevention within the services and at individual installations could be substantially improved. The services could address the problem more systematically and comprehensively than responding to the latest high profile case like Fort Hood, in which multiple leaders were relieved of duty after private first class Vanessa Guillen was sexually harassed and later murdered. While the steps taken at Fort Hood were important efforts in a particularly difficult environment, they alone are not sufficient to address the overall problem.

While these problems feel intractable because they have plagued DoD for years, there are many improvements the department could make right now. In January, Secretary Austin requested a frank assessment of DoD's efforts. In response, researchers at the RAND Corporation summarized the DoD's challenges and developed a series of options to consider based on years of study and RAND's direct consultation with scores of individual DoD installations and military service academies.

First, it is important to understand the current context facing DoD. In recent years, DoD has experienced an increase in problem behaviors, and yet still, most incidents go unreported. We know this because documented cases of assault and harassment are 10 to 20 times less each year than what is reported by service members in confidential, DoD-wide surveys. Even when cases are reported, perpetrators are often not sufficiently held accountable, as may have been the case in the latest Marine incident. The lack of reporting and accountability creates a culture in which potential offenders are not deterred by fear of professional consequences for their actions.

To improve prevention, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) could mandate that services and installations align with a framework for prevention developed by OSD's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) called the Prevention Plan of Action (PPoA). This framework recommends ensuring that dedicated, trained personnel implement and continuously evaluate prevention efforts; training and holding leadership accountable for sound prevention practice; and replacing lecture-based trainings and other less effective prevention activities with those that have the best evidence. OSD could provide support for such actions.

Read the full article about sexual assault in the military by Matthew Chinman and Joie D. Acosta at RAND Corporation.