00                      SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 8                                                                     
01 Urging the United States Congress to pass legislation that requires that a decision to                                  
02 take a charge of sexual assault arising in the military to court martial be made by high                                
03 ranking and experienced military prosecutors outside of the chain of command, and                                       
04 takes the process of investigating and prosecuting sexual assault in the military outside                               
05 of the complainant's chain of command.                                                                                  
06 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
07       WHEREAS, according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, about                                   
08 one in five women and one in 100 men who have served in the military report having                                      
09 experienced sexual trauma while serving in the military; and                                                            
10       WHEREAS, according to the United States Department of Defense, Sexual Assault                                   
11 Prevention and Response Office, 71 percent of victims of military sexual trauma are under 24                            
12 years of age and of lower ranks; and                                                                                    
13       WHEREAS, according to a recent study by the United States Department of Defense,                                
14 more than 26,000 sexual assaults were committed in the military in 2012 alone, and of these,                            
15 fewer than 3,000 were reported, 880 were filed, and only 302 went to trial, with a 79 percent                           

01 conviction rate; and                                                                                                    
02       WHEREAS women and men who are victims of sexual assault while serving in the                                    
03 military are more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, and 40 percent of                               
04 homeless women veterans are victims of military sexual trauma; and                                                      
05       WHEREAS it is almost impossible to guarantee that reports of sexual assaults will                               
06 stay confidential while passing through the chain of command; and                                                       
07       WHEREAS victims fear that their reports of sexual assault will be cause for                                     
08 punishment, and the threat of retaliation is enough to silence many victims; 62 percent of                              
09 victims who reported their sexual assaults experienced some form of social, administrative, or                          
10 professional retaliation within their units; and                                                                        
11       WHEREAS a defined reporting system outside military command is needed to                                        
12 provide a secure and confidential atmosphere; and                                                                       
13       WHEREAS National Guard and Reserve forces who experience military sexual                                        
14 trauma should also be able to receive care for military sexual trauma from the United States                            
15 Department of Veterans Affairs facilities at no cost; and                                                               
16       WHEREAS the need to treat military sexual trauma does not end with discharge of                                 
17 the victim from the military, but requires intensive mental health counseling to allow the                              
18 healing process to progress; and                                                                                        
19       WHEREAS victims of military sexual trauma may experience depression, anger,                                     
20 irritability, numbness, difficulty falling or staying asleep, nightmares, difficulties with                             
21 concentration and memory, drug and alcohol abuse, isolation, difficulty maintaining                                     
22 relationships, and physical health problems; and                                                                        
23       WHEREAS many national veterans organizations, including the Iraq and Afghanistan                                
24 Veterans of America, Service Women's Action Network, Vietnam Veterans of America, and                                   
25 Protect Our Defenders, and women's organizations, including the National Women's Law                                    
26 Center, support a new reporting system for victims of military sexual trauma; and                                       
27       WHEREAS an obvious and overwhelming need exists for an overhaul within the                                      
28 military to address the plague of military sexual trauma and its aftermath;                                             
29       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                        
30 Congress to require that the decision to take a charge of sexual assault arising in the military                        
31 to court martial be made by high ranking and experienced military prosecutors outside of the                            

01 chain of command, which will create a confidential reporting process and give victims of                                
02 military sexual trauma the justice they deserve; and be it                                                              
03       FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the United States                                      
04 Congress to pass meaningful legislation that takes the process of investigating and                                     
05 prosecuting sexual assault in the military outside of the complainant's chain of command.                               
06       COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of                             
07 the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and                          
08 President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of                                  
09 Representatives; the Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the                                 
10 Honorable Chuck Hagel, United States Secretary of Defense; and the Honorable Lisa                                       
11 Murkowski and the Honorable Dan Sullivan, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young,                                   
12 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.