Sexual assault survivors laud Biden order reforming military justice

Madison Cunningham, now 21, said she joined the Army to escape her hometown, travel and pay for college.

Shortly after enlisting, she was sexually assaulted in April 2021 by someone in her battalion at Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg in North Carolina, .

She was sexually assaulted two more times after that, and while she did report the first incident, she chose not to report the others because no disciplinary action had been taken.

"I don't think the military should have any control over what happens with any sexual assault, sexual harassment cases at all," she told the BBC. "A lot of the time they're skewed."

Now, after President Biden signed an executive order on Friday, the process for handling such allegations has been moved outside the chain of command.

Independent military prosecutors will decide how to pursue legal charges in such cases rather than military commanders. They will also handle other serious crimes including domestic violence, child abuse and murder cases.

The Biden administration said the new system was designed to better protect victims and ensure prosecutorial decisions were fully independent from the military command.