The Pentagon, facing a crisis over sexual assaults, will avoid imposing furloughs on hundreds of civilian employees who work in rape prevention programs, officials said today.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has imposed 11 days of unpaid leave on most of the Pentagon's nearly 800,000 civilian workers due to automatic budget cuts. But he decided to make an exception for employees working in sexual assault prevention and response programs, said spokeswoman Cynthia Smith.
"This will ensure responsive victim care and that all the programs are implemented swiftly and efficiently," Smith said.
The US military is struggling with a rise in sexual assaults and a wave of embarrassing high-profile cases, including an officer in charge of the Air Force's sexual assault prevention program who was arrested on allegations of sexual battery.
The Pentagon this month released a report showing a six per cent rise in reported sexual assaults in the military last year and a dramatic spike in anonymous claims of "unwanted sexual contact," which jumped from about 19,000 in 2010 to 26,000 in 2012.
The trend has prompted calls in Congress to change the military's legal code and Hagel has vowed to crack down on the problem. Last week, the Pentagon chief ordered all those working in sexual assault prevention and all recruiters to be recertified and retrained.
