Murkowski concerned about possible cuts to prevent sexual assaults, suicides in military

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is worried about cuts to military jobs, specifically ones that prevent sexual assault, suicides and behavior problems within the forces.

“Over the last week, our offices received multiple reports of pending Department of Defense guidance that would significantly alter, or even terminate, large portions of the Department’s sexual assault prevention and response (SAPR) services. According to these reports, SAPR guidelines are included in a list recently circulated by Deputy Secretary Feinberg for review and potential cancellation,” Sens. Murkowski and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, wrote in a joint statement.

The Associated Press reported that there were plans to have about 2,500 personnel in place to do this prevention work throughout the military services, combatant commands, ships and bases by fiscal year 2028, but those have been slowed because of the hiring freeze and cuts.

Newsweek has reported that some military branches have paused sexual assault prevention trainings after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on diversity, equity and inclusion to evaluate all programs.

The pause comes despite the Department of Defense reporting that there has been “significant progress on reducing unwanted sexual contact.”

The DOD says rates of unwanted sexual contact affecting active-component women decreased from 8.4% to 6.8% between 2021 and 2023. The rates of unwanted sexual contact affecting active-component men also appeared to decline from 1.5% to 1.3%, which the DOD says is not a statistically significant change.

Nearly 7,000 fewer service members experienced sexual assault in 2023 than in 2021, according to DOD estimates.

Emails to the DOD have not been returned.

Murkowski’s letter says that during Sec. of Defense Pete Hegseth’s confirmation process, he vowed DOD would do better about “training and ingrain the fact that sexual abuse and assault is not tolerated in the force.”

The letter goes on to say that, “Meaningful progress toward this goal is fundamentally incompatible with any effort to dismantle those SAPR-related programs and regulations that are already in place. Even minor reductions risk compromising decades of progress toward ending sexual abuse and harassment in the Department. Prompt action is essential to reinforcing victims’ belief in the words of their leadership.”

Alaska’s News Source has asked the senator’s office for additional information such as a request to see the list circulating about possible cuts, if Murkowski has received a response from Hegseth and if the AP numbers are accurate.

This story will be updated with a response.

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