The army freezes training in the prevention of sexual assault in Trump’s order

Several American military branches stop training in the prevention of sexual assault in order to follow one of the executive orders of President Trump related to the diversity, justice and inclusion initiatives.

Directive issued by the headquarters of the Maritime Corps on Tuesday “asked the fleet to stop all trainings (preventing sexual assault) due to recent changes in the White House in order to remove diversity, own capital and inclusion (Dei) from all federal policies”, in accordance with all federal policies “. to E -Mail obtained by Times.

The Navy also confirmed that it would stop such training for some time.

“Navy is working on the full performance and implementation of all directives presented in the executive orders issued by the president, ensuring that they are carried out with the highest professionalism, performance and in adapting to national security goals,” said the official statement of the Navy.

A military official, speaking, provided anonymity for fear of repression, also confirmed the change of policy in the sea corps on time. Requests for a comment from the Department of Defense, Army, Coast Guard and the Air Force were not immediately returned. Details of changing the training policy were First reported by Business Insider on Thursday.

“We see many things that happen very quickly that are not well thought out,” said Elisa Cardnell, general director of Service Women’s Action Network, organization of spokesman for women in the armed forces. “It’s very disturbing.”

It was not clear at once how Trump’s efforts Clean the initiatives of diversity in the Federal Government It required a break in the decade’s battle of the army to reduce the spread of sexual assault in the armed forces.

According to a military official, who spoke on the basis of anonymity, according to a military official, who spoke on the basis of anonymity, according to a military official, who spoke on the basis of anonymity, according to a military official, who now said that the types of training include lessons focused on the nature of consent and sexual harassment , as well as instructions for safe reporting in the army, which spoke provided anonymity.

The training program for preventing and reporting sexual assault was launched in 2005 and is considered “the central power responsible for preventing sexual assaults in the army”, according to the website of the program.

Since its creation, the number of reported sexual assaults in the armed forces has increased dramatically. According to military files, there were about 1,700 sexual assault in the armed forces in the 2004 tax year. This number increased to 8515 in the tax year 2023.

Although reporting has improved, the armed forces still face scandals related to sexual abuse. Last month, May Michael Stockin, The army anesthesiologist pleaded guilty for many cases of improper sexual behavior resulting from allegations of over 40 patients in 2019–2022.

The detention is narrowly focused on training programs and would not affect resources for people who have survived sexual trauma or for people reporting or applying for racing violent sexual offenses, in accordance with the statement issued by the Navy.

But the e-mail checked by the Times did not contain the end point for the break, and the official he talked over time described it as “open”.

There are also fears that Washington can completely limit the program. On January 27, the Navy issued a memorandum mentioning the program of preventing and responding to sexual assault as among the commands to be canceled. No reason was given.

“This sudden change in politics caused widespread confusion among recruiters and service members. There is still no clear schedule when – or if – these programs will be fully restored ” – read a statement from the protection of our defenders, organization of human rights, focusing on the end of sexual assault and racism in the US armed forces.

Supporters were worried that the break could affect military recruitment when the incurring of women was low and the experience who survived the assault.

“There is already a stigma of notification of sexual assault,” said Cardnell. “Every time you take the possibilities so that people can do it, you add an additional mark to it or make it only a problem for women, you make it difficult for people to report and bring the perpetrators to be responsible.”

She noticed that 7% of women in the army and 1.3% of men reported sexual assaults in 2023, last year for which data is available.

The military official who talked to The Times also expressed similar concern with Paus, adding that the alarm was strengthened after the appointment of Trump Pete HegeSth as a defense secretary.

“When you put a guy who is accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault of people responsible for DUP, he will probably have opinions about this kind of politician,” said the official.

The woman accused HegeSetha of assaulting her in the hotel room in Monterey, California in 2017, according to Police report published last year. HegeSeth denied all offenses.

“Leaders give the tone,” said Cardnell.