She Blew The Whistle On Military Sexual Assault, Then Came Under Investigation
Amy Braley-Franck, who has a hearing this week on her two-year suspension, says more needs to be done for victims.
Nick Turse
July 26 2021, 5:30 p.m.
THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION has made combating sexual assault in the military a major policy goal. In January, as his first directive in office, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a memorandum calling on senior Pentagon leaders and top generals to “battle enemies within the ranks” with the aim of wiping out the “scourge of sexual assault.”
From 2013 to 2019, that was also Amy Braley-Franck’s mission — advocating for victims of sexual crimes within the military. A day after she informed a top general about widespread mishandling of sexual assault cases, however, she was suspended from duty and has been ever since.
“The military is its own society, as stated by Justice William Rehnquist, and those that speak outside the approved narrative are shunned,” Braley-Franck told The Intercept.
Braley-Franck has been a high-profile whistleblower, bringing the issue of sexual assault and command abuses to public attention, from the Senate Armed Services Committee to “CBS This Morning.” She even played a role in the Biden administration’s signature effort at curbing sexual misconduct in the armed forces: a recent report that recommends radical reform of the military justice system.
For close to two years, though, Braley-Franck has been suspended from her role as an Army sexual assault prevention and response victim advocate. She sees the suspension, at the hands of a general she was serving under, as a clear case of retaliation. On Tuesday, she has a hearing about a grievance she filed with the Army to resolve the issue.
https://theintercept.com/2021/07/26/military-sexual-assault-whistleblower-suspension/