Veterans Clinic, SWAN Deliver Proposed Executive Order Demanding Sex Discrimination Protections at Military Academies

On April 27, 2015 the Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) delivered a proposed executive order to the White House to demand that the President establish protections against gender discrimination for cadets and midshipmen at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The proposed executive order would strengthen legal avenues for victims to challenge sex discrimination, including sexual assault and harassment that the service academies have failed to address.

The Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School represents SWAN, and this proposed executive order is part of a larger effort by SWAN to address sexual misconduct and gender issues at the service academies. Earlier this year, the clinic on behalf of SWAN, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and ACLU of Connecticut sued the Department of Defense (DoD) for violating the Freedom of Information Act. In violation of its statutory obligation, DoD failed to release records that SWAN believes demonstrate that the service academies have maintained policies and practices resulting in the under-representation of women and campus environments where misogyny and harassment are prevalent.

Currently, victims of sex discrimination at service academies can complain only to their commanding officers and service academies’ administrations by appealing up the chain of command, and cannot seek relief outside of the military system, according to the clinic. This process provides no option to challenge discriminatory Academy policies or a school’s inadequate procedures to address sexual assault and harassment reports, students argue.

“The Military Service Academies have a duty to graduate the finest officers in the world, individuals who will go on to lead our armed forces and shape military culture,” said Arielle Humphries, a law student intern in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School. “This duty is difficult to fulfill when half of all female cadets and midshipmen at the service academies report being sexually harassed annually, but less than 2% of those female cadets and midshipmen feel confident enough in the system to report that harassment.”

The lack of protections for cadets and midshipmen contrasts sharply with the array of sex discrimination prohibitions that protect civilian students, including Title IX, which does not apply to the service academies.

The proposed executive order explicitly prohibits sex discrimination and empowers the Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General (IG) to enforce the order and address discrimination claims against the academies. Claims could challenge Academy policies or inadequate responses to reports of sexual assault or harassment, much like a Title IX complaint to the Department of Education by a civilian student. The order does not mandate chain of command responses to discrimination be replaced, but instead adds additional protections for students.

“Today, we call on the President to make good on his commitment to ending gender-based violence on campuses for all students—especially those who have heeded the call to serve their country,” said Greg Jacob, SWAN policy director and former Marine infantry officer. “With a stroke of his pen, the President could increase accountability and transparency at our service academies by creating a system with procedures like those used to enforce Title IX, which provides civilian students protection from sex discrimination, including sexual assault and harassment.”

Although the Military Service Academies have admitted women for nearly four decades, sexual harassment, assault, and sexism against the women who attend the schools remain rampant, according to the clinic. In the DoD’s 2014 survey of cadets and midshipmen, 8.2% of female cadets and midshipmen reported being sexually assaulted during the 2013-2014 academic year. Forty-eight percent reported sexual harassment, and 87% reported being targets of sexist behavior.

“SWAN continues to work to protect servicemembers from sexism and mistreatment. We demand that our commander in chief demonstrate his commitment to the service women who face unconscionable treatment in our country, and at institutions mandated to train and educate leaders of character,” said Erica Hunt, interim executive director at SWAN. “The proposed executive order will provide greater support to cadets and midshipmen who have been the subject of sexual misconduct, and this is a crucial step in ending sexual violence among our future military leaders.”

SWAN is a national nonpartisan civil rights organization founded and led by women veterans. SWAN’s mission is to transform military culture by securing equal opportunity and the freedom to serve in uniform without discrimination, harassment or assault; and to reform veterans’ services to ensure high quality health care and benefits for women veterans and their families.

In the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School, law students represent individual veterans and their organizations under the supervision of clinical professors. Students engage in litigation before administrative agencies and courts on matters including disability benefits claims, Freedom of Information Act requests, and civil rights lawsuits. In addition, students represent local and national organizations on policy matters relating to the legal needs of veterans.