PoliticsPoliticsChuck Hagelchuck hagel secretary of defense

Sexual Assault Prevention Workers Saved From Pentagon Furloughs

Sexual Assault Prevention Workers Saved From Pentagon Furloughs
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Washington Bureau Chief, HuffPost

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US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks about furloughs during a town hall style meeting at the Department of Defense's MARK Center May 14, 2013 in Alexandria, Virginia. Hagel announced Tuesday that the Department of Defense is reducing to 11 the number of unpaid furlough days that 680,000 of the Pentagon?s civilian employees will have to face through September. The number of furlough days is now half what had been projected early in the year when sequestration cuts kicked in. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has exempted sexual assault prevention workers from the Pentagon's mandatory furloughs this year.

Hagel recently announced that due to sequestration, approximately 680,000 civilian employees would be forced to take 11 days of unpaid leave in this fiscal year.

But with sexual assault in the military becoming an increasingly urgent concern, Hagel has decided to allow employees who work on this issue to avoid furloughs.

Pentagon spokeswoman Cynthia Smith told The Huffington Post that the exemption "will ensure responsive victim care and ensure program initiatives recently directed by Secretary Hagel will be implemented swiftly and efficiently."

Politico, which first broke the news, reported that the announcement would affect about 500 workers. Smith said the department was still working on the details and did not yet have final numbers.

In the past month, three men who were supposed to be preventing sexual assault in the military have themselves been accused of inappropriate conduct.

In early May, the officer in charge of the Air Force's sexual assault prevention program was arrested for sexual assault. About a week later, reports came out that a soldier coordinating a sexual assault prevention program in Fort Hood, Texas, was under investigation for "abusive sexual conduct." And an Army officer who managed the sexual assault prevention office at the Fort Campbell military base in Kentucky was removed from his job after allegations that he violated his ex-wife's protection order.

A recent Pentagon report estimated that as many as 26,000 service members have been assaulted.

"This department may be nearing a stage where the frequency of this crime and the perception that there is tolerance of it could very well undermine our ability to effectively carry out the mission and to recruit and retain the good people we need," said Hagel recently, promising to make combating this epidemic a priority.

President Barack Obama, Hagel and other top defense leaders met at the White House on May 16 about stopping the problem.

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Before You Go

The Faces Of Military Sexual Assault
'Full Battle Rattle'(01 of27)
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Rebekah Havrilla, out on patrol in Afghanistan. The former Army sergeant and Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialist enlisted in 2004, seeking out job training, education, "some patriotic element" after 9/11 and a way out of South Carolina."I went in with the idea of making a career out of it," she says. "I thought, I can't be Special Forces, I can't do Rangers because I don't have a penis -- closest thing I can get to actually doing that type of job is EOD [Explosive Ordnance Disposal]." (credit:Rebekah Havrilla)
Shot Hole(02 of27)
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Havrilla crouches in the remnants of a "demolition shot" she and her team did of a "bunch of captured enemy munitions" outside of Forward Operating Base Gardez, in Afghanistan."It's a very male dominated, hypermasculine environment, so you've got to be the tomboy, kind of, 'let's play cowboys and indians. And soldiers,'" she says. But to some, this also meant persistent sexual harassment and even assault. (credit:Rebekah Havrilla)
Rebekah Havrilla(03 of27)
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Havrilla says intense nightmares kept her from sleep, night after night, after she got back from Afghanistan -- until recently, when she moved to New York. Though Havrilla says that at first she suffered from the kind of hyper-vigilance described by fellow combat veterans in urban settings, she loves the city -- namely because it is so different than where she grew up, in a conservative Christian family in rural South Carolina.She is getting her Masters and working for the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN). (credit:Rebekah Havrilla)
Tia Christopher(04 of27)
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An early photo of Tia Christopher, who joined the Navy at age 18 in 2000 and was out just under a year later, honorably discharged with a "personality disorder." (credit:Tia Christopher)
Women Veterans(05 of27)
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Tia Christopher and her friend Aston Tedford at a women veterans retreat in Arizona several years ago. Christopher now works as an advocate for veterans, in particular victims of MSA, and has written guidance on the subject. (credit:Tia Christopher)
Jungle(06 of27)
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Tia Christopher in a favorite photo. (credit:Tia Christopher)
'I'm Beautiful Despite The Flames'(07 of27)
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Tia Christopher sent this photo of her recently completed tattoo Friday, Sept. 28. Written in Arabic, she says "her motto" -- which covers scars from her assault -- more literally translates: "Despite the flames that devoured my flesh, I am still beautiful." (credit:Tia Christopher)
Tia Christopher(08 of27)
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(credit:Tia Christopher)
Balloons(09 of27)
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Claire Russo in a childhood photo. (credit:Claire Russo)
Claire & Coconut(10 of27)
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Claire Russo pictured at 10 years old, in 1989 with "Coconut." Russo grew up near Washington, D.C., and worked on the Hill."I was sort of -- well no, a really privileged middle-class kid," she says. "I was just fascinated with the debate, and the decisions the government was making … And I remember a very strong desire to serve." (credit:Claire Russo)
Claire Russo Salutes Her Cousin(11 of27)
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Claire Russo in 2004 at Quantico, right after being commissioned, saluting her cousin Tom Winkle, a Navy lieutenant and pilot. Russo lived with Winkle in San Diego, and was with him the night of her assault, at the Marine Corps Ball. It was Winkle that reported Russo's assault; she did not want to report, being afraid for her career. (credit:Claire Russo)
Basic School(12 of27)
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Claire Russo (right) with her roommate at The Basic School in Quantico, Va., after finishing a field exercise. Russo says that one of the 30 females in the class of 180 was raped in the barracks while she was at The Basic School. (credit:Claire Russo)
Fallujah Courtyard(13 of27)
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Claire Russo in a courtyard in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2006, when she served as the targeting officer for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. She deployed two weeks after testifying at the discharge hearing of the serviceman who raped her, Douglas Alan Dowson -- he was already in prison. (credit:Claire Russo)
'Citizen Of Courage'(14 of27)
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Claire Russo (front) salutes the flag during the national anthem, before she was given the "Citizen of Courage" award from the San Diego District Attorney's office in 2006. Behind her is San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and First Marine Expeditionary Force (IMEF) Commanding General John Sattler, who Russo says is the "only commander to ever apologize to me for what I experienced." (credit:Claire Russo)
Russo And San Diego DAs(15 of27)
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Deputy District Attorney Gretchen Means, Claire Russo and District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, after Russo received the "Citizens of Courage" award from the San Diego District Attorney's office at Camp Pendleton in 2006. (credit:Claire Russo)
Down The Aisle(16 of27)
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Claire Russo at her wedding to Josh Russo. Lt. Josh Russo was stationed at Camp Pendleton, some 40 miles north, at the time of Russo's assault in 2004. He remains in the military. (credit:Claire Russo)
Claire And Josh Russo(17 of27)
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Claire and Josh Russo on their wedding day, with friends from the Marines. (credit:Claire Russo)
Russo And Her Motorcycle(18 of27)
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"Me on my Russian Minsk 120 cc dirt bike, in Laos. This was one day on an 8 month trip/honeymoon Josh and I took. We rode motorcylces through SE Asia, Australia and went to Africa," Russo describes in a recent email. (credit:Claire Russo)
'Marawara'(19 of27)
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Claire Russo in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, on a mission with the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Army Paratroopers."I spoke with the district governor that day about how we could help to get a woman working for the Ministry of Womens Affairs working in his district," Russo writes. (credit:Claire Russo)
Claire, Josh And Genevieve Russo In Paris(20 of27)
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Claire Russo and her husband, Josh Russo, and their baby Genevieve, here four weeks old, in Paris. Josh serves in the U.S. Army. (credit:Claire Russo)
St. Genevieve(21 of27)
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"My 4 week old daughter Genevieve and I in front of a painting of Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, who saved the city from the Huns," Russo writes. (credit:Claire Russo)
Marti Ribeiro In Front Of Village(22 of27)
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Marti Ribeiro served with the Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines over eight years as a combat correspondent. (credit:Marti Ribeiro)
Interviewing(23 of27)
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As a combat correspondent, Marti Ribeiro accompanied medical convoys to remote areas without local doctors. Such clinics were set up in specific locations, so the locals needed significant advance warning of their arrival.When one such convoy came under attack, Ribeiro returned fire, earning her a Combat Action Badge, though as a female, she officially should not have been in a position to take fire. (credit:Marti Ribeiro)
'Afghan Girls On Rooftop'(24 of27)
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A photograph of Afghan girls, taken by Marti Ribeiro during her deployment. (credit:Marti Ribeiro)
Ribeiro In 2006(25 of27)
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Marti Ribeiro and an Afghan boy in 2006. (credit:Marti Ribeiro)
'Soaked To The Bone And Miserable'(26 of27)
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Marti Ribeiro titles this photo -- taken in Afghanistan in 2006 -- as "soaked to the bone and miserable." (credit:Marti Ribeiro)
Marti Ribeiro And Her Daughter Bela(27 of27)
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Marti Ribeiro and her daughter, Bela, in San Antonio, Texas. (credit:Marti Ribeiro)
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