On New Year’s Eve, President Barack Obama took pen in hand and signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. In doing so he signed into law sweeping and profound changes in the way the military treats survivors of sexual assault by strengthening the military’s prevention efforts and providing legal protections and assistance for survivors.

The law strengthens support for sexual assault prevention by:

Increasing the rank of the Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response office to a flag officer or SES position;

Outlining requirements for the number of Sexual Assault Response Coordinators (SARCs) and Victim Advocates to assign to each military unit;

Providing mandatory rank-appropriate training for military leaders at PME schools.

The law strengthens legal protections for survivors of sexual assault in the military by:

Ensuring that victims have access to a legal assistance and maintaining their option of confidential reporting, even if they seek legal counsel;

Mandating preservation of physical and documentary evidence and forms;

Requiring the President to sign an executive order creating legal privilege between victims and victim advocates.

The law strengthens assistance for survivors by:

Ensuring Victim Advocates and SARCs are certified and full-time service members or DOD civilians; and

Providing victims of sexual assault with expedited consideration for a base transfer, if requested.

You can read the sexual assault prevention and response section of the law here (Begins with Sec. 581 on pg. 320)