Ashley Merryman on the ‘Dangerous’ Cycle of Pentagon Sexual Harassment Policy
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 25 April 2023
⏱️ 57 minutes
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Summary
April is Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention month. It’s a time—recognized by civilian and U.S. military communities—intended to promote the prevention of sexual violence, especially in U.S. armed forces. In light of Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention month, Lawfare Associate Editor Katherine Pompilio sat down with author and attorney Ashley Merryman, who previously served at the Pentagon as Special Advisor for the Department of the Navy’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. They discussed the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment at U.S. military academies, the dangerous shortcomings of the Pentagon's “lowest level” policy to address sexual harassment, how the policy came to be and why it persists, and policy recommendations for the future.
Listener discretion is advised. This episode contains discussion of sexual harassment and assault.
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Transcript
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| 0:22.0 | rational security, chatter, law fair no bull, and the aftermath. |
| 0:29.0 | The name of the game is to convince someone not to report. |
| 0:39.0 | So nothing you do in terms of how you prosecute is going to matter |
| 0:43.0 | until we stop this practice. |
| 0:45.0 | As long as you keep saying you really shouldn't do this, |
| 0:49.0 | it's not a crime. |
| 0:51.0 | It's just a human relations issue. |
| 0:53.0 | Saying that we have a new office to litigate the reported |
| 0:57.0 | harassment is not going to happen. |
| 0:59.0 | I mentioned that the top, you know, almost 4,000 cadets |
| 1:03.0 | in midshipment we estimate had been sexually harassed. |
| 1:07.0 | There were about 40 reports at the academies, |
| 1:11.0 | 40 reports, and nothing in the report actually shows |
| 1:17.0 | that anything actually happens for those 40 reports. |
| 1:21.0 | You have to imagine how terrible it was |
| 1:25.0 | for 40 people out of 4,000 to come forward and complain, right? |
| 1:29.0 | And not one action was taken, at least not according to the report. |
... |
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