当他接任国防部长时，劳埃德·奥斯汀说他要解决问题属于…的性侵并寻找新的方法。

他还成立了一个军队性侵犯问题独立审查委员会，用90天时间解决军队中的性侵犯和性骚扰问题。

周三小组成立会议后的五角大楼新闻发布会上，新委员会主席林恩·罗森塔尔(Lynn Rosenthal)表示:“这些服务领导人和部门官员将面临挑战，要想出新的想法，设想有什么可能满足部长的指示，即所有选项都应该摆在桌面上。”

新成立的小组的13名成员中有10名是妇女，包括民事检察官、预防专家、民事倡导者、两名西点军校毕业生以及退伍军人事务部和疾病控制和预防中心的专家。

安德鲁·哈尔尼克/美联社

国防部为期90天的性骚扰问题独立审查委员会成员

除了宣布委员会成员和他们的支持人员，罗森塔尔说，将建立一个网站，在那里性侵犯的受害者可以提供他们的故事，以帮助通知小组。

“可悲的是，最强有力的声音来自创伤和痛苦，”罗森塔尔说。“这些是我们必须听到的声音...我们承诺这样做。”

当记者问及该小组与以往有何不同时没有成功的努力罗森塔尔说，通过减少军队中的性侵犯数量，这将为这个问题带来“新的视角”。

安德鲁·哈尔尼克/美联社

林恩·罗森塔尔，国防部90天独立审查委员会主席

“我想我们要问的是——还有什么没试过?在平民社会会发生什么，这是我们可以在军事方面尝试的最佳做法?然后，军事环境有哪些独特的属性，让我们可以去做平民方面做不到的事情?所以我认为这种比较非常重要，”她说。

虽然过去五角大楼不支持克里斯汀·吉利布兰德(Kirsten Gillibrand)参议员提出的将指挥官排除在性侵犯案件起诉批准程序之外的提议，但罗森塔尔表示，她的小组对该提议感兴趣，因为所有选项都摆在桌面上。

与此同时，在国会山，纽约的吉利布兰德主持了一场关于军队性侵犯的听证会，她热情地为自己的法案游说，并表示五角大楼以前的努力已经失败。

吉利布兰德的声音随着每一句话而提高，她说，“这些步骤中没有一个减少了队伍中的性侵犯。我们就在开始的地方，没有什么改变。自迪克·切尼以来，几乎每一位国防部长都向这个国家——以及为我们服务的军人——承诺绝不容忍性侵犯。过去10年来，每一位来到这个机构的将军或指挥官都告诉我们，‘我们有这个，夫人，我们有这个。’事实是，他们没有。军事司法系统完全掌握在坏人手中。"

性侵犯幸存者艾米·马什(Amy Marsh)和瓦内萨·格林(Vanessa Guillen)家人的律师娜塔莉·卡瓦姆(Natalie Khawam)在参议院军事委员会听证会上作证。

格林一家声称，这名20岁的士兵在失踪前是胡德堡性骚扰的受害者，并被一名士兵杀害。

军方的调查并没有证实这些指控，但格林的案件已经成为军事性侵犯受害者站出来的转折点军队要向内看在对待受害者以及性骚扰和性侵犯指控方面的做法。

家庭倡导的《我是瓦内萨·格林法案》(I Am Vanessa Guillen Act)旨在改革军队处理不当性行为的方式，该法案得到了国会议员的支持，包括夏威夷参议员马齐·广野(Mazie Hirono)。她在周三的听证会上表示，她将很快在参议院重新介绍该法案。

“我们需要改变，我们需要立法，”卡瓦姆说。“我想谈的是——不仅仅是通过立法，我们需要实际上能够产生结果的立法。”

“我请求你们保护这些像保护我们一样服务的男男女女，”她补充道。

马什说，她遭到一名高级士兵的性侵犯，这名士兵在他们居住的意大利基地与她的丈夫一起工作。该部队的指挥官最初拒绝起诉袭击者，马什描述了这一过程对她和她的家人造成的个人伤害。

马什说:“说这话让我很痛苦，但在整个过程的许多时候，我觉得如果我什么也没报告，情况会好得多。”。

“如果现状保持不变，坏演员将能够继续他们的军事生涯，而受害者在沉默中受苦，”她补充说。“在这个让我失望的系统中，我感觉不到任何正义或公平，我做的一切都是对的。”

New Pentagon panel to take on sexual assault in the military

When he took over as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he was going totackle the issueofsexual assaultin the military head-on and look for new approaches.

He also launched an Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military to take 90 days to address sexual assault and harassment in the ranks.

"These service leaders and department officials will be challenged to think of new ideas, to envision what is possible to meet the secretary's directive that all options should be on the table," said Lynn Rosenthal, the chair of the new commission at a Pentagon news conference following the panel's inaugural meeting Wednesday.

Ten of the 13 members of the newly formed panel are women and include civilian prosecutors, prevention specialists, civilian advocates, two West Point graduates and experts from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition to announcing the commission members and their support staff, Rosenthal said a website would be set up where victims of sexual assault could provide their stories to help inform the panel.

"The most powerful voices, sadly, come from trauma and from pain," said Rosenthal. "These are the voices that we must hear ... and we are committed to doing so."

When reporters asked how the panel would be different from previousefforts that have not succeededin bringing down the number of sexual assaults in the military, Rosenthal said it would bring "fresh eyes" to the issue.

"I think what we'll be asking -- what hasn't been tried? What happens in civilian society that is a best practice that we could try on the military side? And then, what are the unique attributes of the military environment that allows us to do things that we can't do on the civilian side? So I think that comparison is very important," she said.

While in the past the Pentagon has not supported Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's proposal to move commanders out of the process for approving prosecutions in sexual assault cases, Rosenthal said her panel is interested in the proposal because all options are on the table.

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, Gillibrand, D-N.Y., presided over a hearing on sexual assault in the military where she passionately lobbied for her bill and said the Pentagon's previous efforts have failed.

Her voice rising with each sentence, Gillibrand said, "Not one of these steps has reduced sexual assault within the ranks. We are right where we were when we started, nothing has changed. Nearly every secretary of defense since Dick Cheney has promised this country -- and the service members who serve us -- zero tolerance for sexual assault. Every general or commander that has come in front of this body for the past 10 years, has told us, 'We've got this ma'am, we've got this.' Well the truth is, they don't have it. The military justice system simply is in the wrong hands."

Testifying at the Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing was sexual assault survivor Amy Marsh and attorney for Vanessa Guillen's family, Natalie Khawam.

The Guillen family has claimed that the 20-year-old soldier was a victim of sexual harassment at Fort Hood before she disappeared and was killed by a fellow soldier.

Army investigations have not proven those allegations, but Guillen's case has served as a turning point for military sexual assault victims to step forward and for theArmy to look inwardat its practices in how it treats victims and allegations of sexual harassment and assault.

The I Am Vanessa Guillen Act, advocated by the family to reform how the military addresses sexual misconduct, has received support from members of Congress, including Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii. She said at Wednesday's hearing that she would soon be re-introducing the bill in the Senate.

"We need change, we need legislation," Khawam said. "I want to talk about -- not just through legislation, we need legislation that's actually going to create results."

"I ask that you protect these men and women that serve like they protect us," she added.

Marsh said she was sexually assaulted by a senior enlisted airman who worked with her husband at the base where they lived in Italy. The commanding officer of the unit initially refused to prosecute the assailant and Marsh described how the process had taken a personal toll on her and her family.

"It pains me to say this but at many points throughout this process, I felt it would have been much better if I just hadn't reported anything at all," said Marsh.

"If the status quo remains unchanged, bad actors will be able to continue their military careers while victims suffer in silence," she added. "And I don't feel any justice or fairness in the system that has failed me, and I did everything right."