1 00:00:00,460 --> 00:00:06,430 (Elizabeth Van Winkle) We're here today to discuss what we are releasing, which is the annual report on 2 00:00:06,430 --> 00:00:10,580 sexual assault in the military. Very concerning data this year. 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:17,580 Where we are now seeing the biggest issue is being able to really get not only from the top 4 00:00:17,590 --> 00:00:21,670 down, which is what we typically have been doing over the last 10 years, but 5 00:00:21,670 --> 00:00:25,240 starting from the bottom up, too, and recognizing that we need to have 6 00:00:25,240 --> 00:00:29,710 military members at all levels and the academies to cadets and midshipmen at 7 00:00:29,710 --> 00:00:33,200 all levels taking responsibility for this. 8 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,980 And what I mean by that is often 9 00:00:35,980 --> 00:00:38,880 when we talk to individuals and our focus groups, they say, 10 00:00:39,220 --> 00:00:43,540 "Well, I'm not a perpetrator, and I've never been a victim, so I don't really think much about this." 11 00:00:43,540 --> 00:00:47,469 We need them to think more about it, and we need them to think about what are the 12 00:00:47,469 --> 00:00:51,520 experiences of those in their unit when they're joking around, making jokes that 13 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,120 may be perfectly acceptable in the civilian world. It's not acceptable in 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,870 the military, and it creates a culture and climate that is very much counter 15 00:00:58,870 --> 00:01:02,680 to good order and discipline. It's counter to our expectations to treat everybody 16 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,000 with dignity and respect. 17 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:12,000 But not all individuals understand that there is a line there, and what is OK where they grew up 18 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:16,000 and what is OK in the school that they came from, their high school before they entered the academy 19 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000 or where they came from before entering the military 20 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,000 — what is often OK in general conversation there is not OK in the military. 21 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,000 And so some of our job is to make sure they recognize 22 00:01:26,700 --> 00:01:31,860 what our expectations for them are, and to also empower them to step up and to 23 00:01:31,860 --> 00:01:36,390 Say, “This isn't OK, and you need to knock it off,” and to take accountability 24 00:01:36,390 --> 00:01:41,000 for all of those individuals in their Unit -- for our women to stand up for other 25 00:01:41,010 --> 00:01:45,540 women and men, for our men to stand up for other women and men. It really is a, 26 00:01:45,540 --> 00:01:50,100 it is a unit-wide call to action.