Washington DC – US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III has expressed his support for changing the way sexual assault claims are handled within the military.

Austin released a statement on Tuesday, saying his recommendations are intended to "finally end the scourge of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military."

Included in the proposals is a measure that would allow military members to report instances of sexual assault to independent lawyers rather than to their commanding officers. According to NPR, Austin is the first defense secretary willing to alter the Uniform Code of Military Justice in this way.

The comments came after the Independent Review Commission conducted an investigation on improving care and prevention around sexual assault in the military, as requested by President Biden. Austin's position contrasts with that of the Pentagon, which has long believed that assault claims should go through commanding officers.

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In Congress, efforts to update the way sexual assault claims are handled are also underway. The Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, first introduced by New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in 2013, is gaining momentum.

The legislation similarly calls for trained military prosecutors, not the traditional chain of command, to handle sexual assault allegations. The proposal would let the military maintain oversight while allowing skilled attorneys with legal expertise to manage the cases.

"We have enormous momentum. I think we are well over 60 votes at this point," Gillibrand said of the bill's support in the Senate, eight years after its introduction.

In the meantime, the need for reform is growing: a Department of Defense report from 2020 found that the number of assault claims has doubled since 2013, but the number of prosecutions and convictions went down by about half.