© Win Mcnamee/Getty ImagesSeveral former servicewomen testify about being sexually assaulted in the military during a Senate hearing in Washington.
The military justice system is broken, riven with inherent bias, conflicts of interest and a hierarchical structure that ensures perpetrators go unpunished, survivors of military sexual assault told Congress on Wednesday.
At the first Senate hearing into sexual abuse in the armed forces for a decade, victims said the system helped encourage predators in uniform, and urged senators to change the law to give survivors the same protections as civilians - namely an independent justice system.
Rebekah Havrilla, a former army sergeant who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after being raped by another service member while in Afghanistan, told the Senate armed services committee that she found a "broken" criminal justice system.
Havrilla, who described an interview during the military investigation into her case as being the "most humiliating thing that I have ever experienced", said it was eventually closed after senior commanders decided not to pursue charges.
"What we need is a military with a fair and impartial criminal justice system, one that is run by professional and legal experts, not unit commanders," Havrilla said.
