MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin National Guard could see changes to how it reports incidents of sexual assault and harassment as part of a slate of bills expected in the new legislative session starting in the new year.
The bills are the product of a study committee that worked this past year on ways to ensure that the issues stemming from the guard’s mishandling of sexual misconduct reports do not happen again.
The committee’s chair, Rep. Tony Kurtz, R-Wonewoc, contends that while there is no bill that will completely eliminate the problem, the bills coming out of the committee are a good first step.
“I think collectively one thing you got out of the committee is we don’t want this to happen again,” Kurtz said. “What will that look like so that we can prevent this from happening? That’s where that transparency comes in to say, ‘every year now the guard is going to give us a report.’”
That annual report would be sent to lawmakers and the governor, detailing the number of reports the guard received the past year as well as the current policies the guard has in place to prevent sexual assault and harassment.
There are also provisions in the package of bills that would help align the state’s military code of justice with the federal Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“An airman or a soldier that’s on weekend drill up at Fort McCoy or Volk Field — they’re not UCMJ, they fall under the Wisconsin Code of Military Justice,” Kurtz said. “Prior to the unfortunate events that happened, that was out of whack,” he added. “And that was one of the focuses —that’s what one of the bills addresses, to bring that up to up to the standards with a uniform code of military justice.”
The committee’s work finished earlier this month, meaning the bills will be introduced after the first of the year at the earliest. The bills have bipartisan support behind them, including from the governor.
“I do think the guard has done a very good job of saying, ‘Hey, we made a mistake and we learned from that mistake and we’ve taken these necessary steps in place to hopefully mitigate that,’” Kurtz said. “I feel very good about that, I think all the committee members feel very good about that, and I think these bills are just going to enhance those checks and balances.”
If you or someone you know has been a victim of rape or sexual assault, there are resources available. The Rape Crisis Center in Madison has a 24-hour hotline at 608-251-7273 for English speakers and 608-258-2567 for Spanish speakers. The National Sexual Assault Hotline can also be reached 24/7 at 800-656-4673.
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