December 2023 — MHCE Newsletter
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22 | <strong>MHCE</strong> - News www.mhce.us DECEMBER <strong>2023</strong> EDITION<br />
values of honor, respect and devotion to<br />
duty, they added.<br />
"For so many victims, there are even<br />
deeper levels of broken trust: in leaders<br />
who failed them in preventing and<br />
responding to sexual violence; in a<br />
military justice system with antiquated<br />
legal definitions of rape; in non-existent<br />
support programs for those impacted<br />
prior to 2000," wrote the authors, Rear<br />
Adm. Miriam Lafferty, John Luce and<br />
Command Master Chief Ann Logan.<br />
Coast Guard Review Blasts Service<br />
for Failing to Safeguard Members<br />
from Sexual Assault, Harassment<br />
A Coast Guard review released<br />
Wednesday found that the service<br />
failed to live up to its core values when<br />
it mishandled sexual assault reports<br />
and hid results of investigations into<br />
the cases, eroding trust in leaders and<br />
causing further psychological harm to<br />
victims.<br />
from victims as far back as the 1960s,<br />
that the failings contributed to "deeprooted<br />
feelings of pain and a loss of trust<br />
in the organization."<br />
Such cover-ups and missteps are<br />
incongruent with the Coast Guard's<br />
Most of the alleged perpetrators never<br />
were criminally investigated, and some<br />
of those who remained in the service<br />
went on to become senior officers.<br />
As part of their investigation, the<br />
team reviewed Coast Guard reports,<br />
documents and programs pertaining to<br />
sexual assault and harassment prevention,<br />
speaking with service members on Coast<br />
Guard culture, training and experiences,<br />
and surveying command climate and<br />
making recommendations for reform.<br />
The 90-day review into the Coast<br />
Guard's climate and handling of sexual<br />
assaults and harassment claims --<br />
ordered in July by Commandant Adm.<br />
Linda Fagan -- said service members are<br />
"not experiencing the safe, empowering<br />
workplace they expect and deserve" and<br />
don't trust that they will be protected if<br />
they report an incident.<br />
Fagan called for the review following<br />
reports by CNN on the service's failure<br />
to disclose the results of an investigation<br />
called Operation Fouled Anchor, which<br />
uncovered 60 substantiated cases of<br />
rape, sexual assault and harassment<br />
over nearly two decades, and failures<br />
by leaders to prosecute suspects for<br />
misconduct.<br />
The authors of the review released<br />
Wednesday also found, when hearing
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