The White House is holding a meeting on Thursday in response to a string of reports detailing the rising level of sexual assaults in the nation’s armed forces, CNN reports.
Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett and the first lady’s chief of staff Tina Tchen are sitting down with about a dozen lawmakers to discuss the issue. A Pentagon report released this week found that more than 70 sexual assaults involve military personnel every day. More than 26,000 troops experienced an episode of “unwanted sexual contact,” the Defense Department estimated.
The officer in charge of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response branch was also arrested Sunday on charges of sexual battery.
