Air Force gives sex assault victims ‘a voice to their choice’

By Jason Fornicola, Director of Custom Media Federal News Radio

Created in 2013, the Air Force’s Special Victims Counsel Program was established by the Judge Advocate General’s Corps to advocate and provide legal representation for victims of sexual assault. As of March 6, the program has represented more than 1,460 victims and carries a current caseload of 750 victims. “It was established to help victims both be empowered to know their rights, to advocate for victims’ rights and to advise victims on their rights,” according to Lt. Col. Andrea deCamara, chief of the Air Force Legal Operations Agency’s Special Victims Counsel (SVC) Division. “The Judge Advocate General saw this as a need, saw this as an area where our trial counsel and the military justice system was focused on convictions and focused on prosecuting cases, and some victims felt as though they were not getting the adequate support that they needed throughout the process.”

“Many had questions and had legal issues that they needed addressed,” deCamara told Federal News Radio’s Agency of the Month radio show. “Both in the court-martial setting, but also in the legal assistance arena; secondary consequences that occurred that they needed legal assistance with. And so the Judge Advocate General saw this need and established this program.” For deCamara, who said JAGs throughout the Air Force were trained to be SVCs, the program’s success does not depend on a courtroom victory for the victim.

“We don’t judge the success of our program on convictions or acquittals,” deCamara said. “What we really judge the program on is how our victims feel about the process – have we helped them in the process, do they understand what has happened, do they understand their legal rights, and do they feel as though they have been represented and been empowered – given a choice once they have reported this crime. Rather than looking at it through the lens of convictions versus acquittals, we look through the lens of: are our victims satisfied, do they feel as though this is a program that has helped them deal with the situation that they are in and do they feel empowered?”

DeCamara emphasized many sexual assault victims feel like they’ve lost control of their lives as they go through the legal process, and the SVC program can help them regain that control. “The Special Victims Counsel really helps give these victims a voice to their choice. They understand what choices they have, and then the SVC is there to then give that victim’s choice – on what they want to see happen – a voice.” To ensure the program remains effective, deCamara described a survey victims can utilize to provide feedback. She said the results validate the program’s impact.

“We have 99 percent of the victims who’ve been through the program have said that they would recommend other victims to request an SVC if they could,” according to deCamara. “96 percent indicated that they believe their Special Victims Counsel advocated effectively on their behalf, and 91 percent are extremely satisfied with the advice and support the SVC provided during the court-martial and Article 32, which is our preliminary hearing process. So that victim satisfaction rate and that victim empowerment is what we really focus on in our program.” DeCamara also detailed the role the SVC plays in helping the victim understand the full scope of the situation, including elements that can be controlled and which ones can’t.

“As the victim advocate, we can tell them [the victim] and educate them about the process as they go along,” deCamara said. “But so much is dependent upon how the court-martial progresses and whether there is a conviction or not. So the conviction is not what we’d like to focus on for the victim. It’s empowering the victim to be able to make informed choices and to feel as though someone is there protecting their privacy rights because sometimes the prosecution and the victim’s interests don’t necessarily always align.”

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