Former White House Advisor to Lead DOD Commission on Sexual Assault

“To carry out the president’s direction, [Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III] ordered the establishment of a 90-day independent review commission on sexual assault in the military … to review department policies and processes as directed by the president,” John Kirby said during a briefing today. “The secretary has designated Lynn Rosenthal, formerly the first-ever White House advisor on violence against women and a longtime advocate for survivors of gender violence, to lead this commission.”

The commission’s membership will include military leaders, former military leaders, advocates for those who have been sexually assaulted, and experts on the crime of sexual assault, she said.

“We want to hear a diversity of views from every level of the services and in civilian society,” Rosenthal said. “We will take all of those views into account in our deliberations and our recommendations.”

Discussions about solving the sexual assault problem within the ranks and improving the climate so that those who are sexually assaulted feel comfortable coming forward have frequently involved the idea of removing commanders from the process of investigating sexual assaults. Rosenthal said that is something that will be looked at by the commission.

“The president and the secretary have said that all options should be on the table,” she said. “I don’t think we have a predetermined outcome of this question, which we must very carefully examine.”

By 90 days, she said, the commission’s work will have finished, but work on sexual assault in the military will continue long after it is done.

“I think the secretary is our greatest asset in fighting this problem,” she said. “He gets it so deeply. He cares about it so much. He cares about his service members. And, so, the commission ends in 90 days, but the implementation of the recommendations will certainly continue.”