There's a lot there to potentially unpack.
Again, if we assume that the real problem we're here today to solve is to minimize any form of sexual misconduct in the military, knowing that we will never be 100% successful, then it's knowing that we have the right supports in place for when it does happen and that we learn lessons from it so that it doesn't continue.
When we look at the research that has been done, especially in the U.S., it has shown over and over again that these significant sexual misconduct-related issues don't ever pop up out of nowhere. They always start at the lower end. People find that they are in a permissive environment where either the victim doesn't push back when that first little thing happens or, if the victim does push back and go to the chain of command, the victim is blown off and not believed, so nothing happens. That's a signal for them to keep going up the chain.
This is why those smaller events that may seem minimal—we know over and over again—are the key to helping prevent the larger sexual misconduct cases. It's by not allowing that permissive environment for bad behaviour in the workplace. This is exactly the unwanted kiss or the unwanted touch. The unwanted harassment makes it really the area to be focusing on to probably have the biggest impact on a positive culture and to minimize sexual misconduct moving forward.
In a military culture as well, unlike in a normal job.... I think of so many examples where I could not have done what the mission required without the help of others. If you're doing sea survival, you're in a poopy suit, and you're trying to get into the lifeboat, you ain't getting in on your own. You are grateful that anyone can grab any part of your body that they can grab and get you into the boat. That kind of scenario is not uncommon in the military.
Let's continue it one step further. You're in the plane, and there's turbulence. You're on the ship, and there's turbulence. People bump into each other and touch each other on a frequent basis that you don't see in a normal workspace. We have to be able to trust each other. We have to be able to understand that 99 times it's a normal touch that just happened, but there's that one time when it's not normal.
We need a system in place whereby we can actually identify it and address it without suddenly being told, “Oh, no, no, that's now considered a sexual assault because he accidentally groped a breast, even though he says he tripped and that it was nothing.” Things are not black and white. We have this grey area where the best place to be addressing that is still in terms of professional discipline in the military context. This takes that away from us.