Senators’ bipartisan legislation establishes data collection standards to assess risk of sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema partnered with Republican Senator John Cornyn (Texas) to introduce the Protecting Our Servicemembers Through Proven Methods Act – bipartisan legislation that establishes data collection standards at the U.S. Department of Defense that will assess risk relating to sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence.
“We’re improving the Department of Defense’s ability to protect Arizona servicemembers from sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence. I’ll keep working to ensure our servicemembers are treated with dignity and respect,” said Sinema.
“America’s servicemembers have answered the call to defend this nation and we must ensure they too are protected,” said Cornyn. “This legislation would improve the policies and procedures to keep our brave men and women in uniform safe and root out some of the causes of sexual assault and domestic violence in the military.”
Last year, Sinema and Cornyn championed the bipartisan Servicemember Safety and Security Act – legislative text that was included in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. Sinema and Cornyn’s bipartisan legislation established guiding principles, research, and a primary prevention task force for sexual assault, harassment, and domestic violence.
Sinema and Cornyn’s new bipartisan legislation – the Protecting Our Servicemembers Through Proven Methods Act – follows last year’s success by entering into a data sharing partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bipartisan legislation requires a Government Accountability Office report comparing sexual harassment and prevention training of the U.S. Department of Defense with similar programs at federal departments and universities.