Cadet: Sexual assault scandal at academy is leadership's fault

[The Straight Story]

Cadet: Sexual assault scandal at academy is leadership's fault
By Daniel Pulliam
[e-mail]

Former Air Force cadet Beth Davis - who was the first to claim sexual assault was a "dirty secret" at the U.S. Air Force Academy - told officials Wednesday that the underlying problem in the academies is a failure of leadership.


Davis told members of the Defense Task Force on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies that academy leaders are inconsistent in responding to assault claims and create a culture of cynicism toward victims.


"The leaders don't live up to the standards that they preach," Davis said. "It is the leadership that came down on me."


Davis, who says she was raped multiple times while attending the Air Force Academy and was retaliated against when she tried to report the incidents, encouraged the task force to gather information from victims in preparing their recommendations on preventing and responding to sexual harassment and sexual violence at the military schools. Davis said that the military's new limited confidentiality policy is a good start in encouraging victims to come forward.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0305/033005p1.htm