United States Coast Guard Annex President's Report: United States Coast Guard Sexual Assault Prevention and Response

Within the Coast Guard, sexual assault is a crime that destroys discipline, erodes command cohesiveness, and degrades readiness. Although sexual assault in the military is an issue that has recently received significant attention from external oversight bodies and the media, the issue has been at the forefront of the Commandant's priorities for many years. Since 2008, the Coast Guard has dedicated significant resources and taken direct actions-such as hiring a dedicated Program Manager and chartering a Task Force to examine sexual assault training, policy, investigations, communications, and culture-to address sexual assault (see Figure 1). In October 2013, these actions culminated in the issuance of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Task Force's Report. In its Report, the Task Force recommended that the Coast Guard create a Sexual Assault Prevention Council to manage implementation of the Task Force recommendations and coordinate Service-wide efforts to eliminate sexual assault by and upon Coast Guard personnel. In direct response to the Task Force Report, the Deputy Commandant for Mission Support signed the Sexual Assault Prevention Council Charter on 31 January 2013. The newly formed Council held its kick-off meeting on 27 February 2013. Since then, the Council continues to meet one to two times a month and drive measured progress in all areas addressed in the Task Force Report: training, policy, investigation and prosecution, communications, and workplace climate and culture. This document provides an overview of events leading to the creation of the Sexual Assault Prevention Council as well as service-wide accomplishments since its inception to highlight the Coast Guard's approach to eradicating sexual assault within our service.