Military Sexual Assault Survivor Paula Coughlin Speaks Out

Tell your senators: don't filibuster justice. Pass the Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA). Take action here:

Protect Our Defenders hears daily from service members who have been dissuaded from reporting, retaliated against, and harassed by their peers and their chain of command. Victims are often put through a grueling and humiliating justice process. Their privacy is violated. Their rapists' commander decides whether they will even have the possibility of justice.
Justice should not be filibustered. Sign the petition now!

Over 26,000 sexual crimes occurred in the military in 2012 alone. 92% of victims choose not to come forward. Of those few who do, 62% of women report retaliation.

The sexual assault epidemic persists because our military justice system is failing victims.

There is a solution -- the Military Justice Improvement Act would start to bring justice to victims and survivors. It takes the prosecutorial function out of the hands of inherently biased and untrained commanders and puts it into the hands of professional military prosecutors.

But, Senator Claire McCaskill and Senator Kelly Ayotte have threatened to filibuster the Military Justice Improvement Act from even coming up for a vote.

Victims and their families deserve a vote. There is clear support for MJIA from veterans groups, the public, and a bipartisan majority of the Senate. However, a dogged few persist in denying justice to our troops. They will undoubtedly find themselves on the wrong side of history.

Protect Our Defenders honors, supports, and gives voice to the brave men and women in uniform who have been raped or sexually assaulted by fellow service members. We seek to fix the military training, investigation and adjudication systems related to sexual violence, systems that often re-victimize survivors by blaming them while failing to prosecute perpetrators.