Biden Vows to End Sexual Assault in US Military & Colleges

US president Joe Biden vowed to combat the “scourge” of sexual assault in the US military on Monday, while also ordering a review of Trump administration regulations dealing with such offences on college campuses.

The announcement came from White House during the president’s International Women’s Day speech. He also nominated two female officers, Gen Jacqueline Van Ovost and Lt Gen Laura Richardson, to become four-star commanders.

To “shine the light” on the accomplishments of women officers the president said, “Each of these women have led careers demonstrating incomparable skill, integrity and duty to country, at every step. They’ve also helped push open the doors of opportunity to women in our military.”

Defense officials held off on elevating the two female officers during the Trump administration because they feared former President would object.

In his speech, the president discussed their plan to ensure full support and value to women in the US military, including equal promotions, ensuring that women’s careers do not suffer when they have children, and ensuring that the military has “body armor that suits women properly.”

Mr. Biden said, “This is going to be an all-hands-on-deck effort to end the scourge of sexual assault in the military.” He marked the sexual assault and harassment as “threat to our national security.”

The president also asked his administration to revisit federal guidelines directing colleges in their treatment of campus sexual assaults as the first step toward repealing a controversial Trump administration strategy.

He signed an executive order on Monday, directing the Education Department to investigate laws issued by the Trump administration related to Title IX, which is the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. Biden instructed the department to “consider suspending, revising or rescinding” any policies that fail to protect students.

Biden also signed a second executive order, officially establishing the White House Gender Policy Council, which he had promised prior to his inauguration.

Jennifer Klein, co-chair and executive director of the Gender Policy Council, told reporters at a White House briefing, “The policy of this administration is that every individual, every student is entitled to a fair education — free of sexual violence — and that all involved have access to a fair process,”

Donald Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos, made extensive changes to the way colleges respond to sexual harassment and assault, with provisions that bolster the rights of the accused and narrow the scope of cases schools are required to address. Her policies garnered criticism from civil rights groups and colleges.

President Biden’s decision is an important one to reverse the controversial policies made by DeVos.