Navy Plans Harassment Hot Line
The Navy announced Tuesday that it will open a toll-free “advice and counseling” hot line for alleged perpetrators and victims of sexual harassment.
Acting Navy Secretary Sean O’Keefe also directed that a system be set up to track complaints to “provide a comprehensive, accurate yardstick to gauge the effectiveness of the department’s program to eliminate sexual harassment.”
The Navy, struggling to recover from the Tailhook sex-abuse scandal, last month ousted several admirals after the Pentagon’s inspector general said they had failed to aggressively investigate the 1991 incident, in which dozens of women complained they had been attacked and fondled by Navy and Marine Corps officers at a Las Vegas aviators convention.
The new system will be in place by December, the Navy said, including a hot line to provide “advice and counseling . . . to any member who might be involved in an incident of sexual harassment regarding their rights and responsibilities and options to resolve the situation.”
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