Again, I will take it from my perspective. I have been out of the forces since Operation Honour was put into place.
My understanding is that all sexual assault is currently dealt with outside of the chain of command by MPs, so looking back on my circumstances, what happened shouldn't have happened if it had happened three years later. Ultimately, I believe that how everything shook out would still be the same with the current process that's in place.
Had I been first approached by military police and they believed they couldn't pursue criminal charges, my expectation was that with an outside reporting process, my complaint would have been directed that way rather than to my chain of command. Then, in having discussions about how to proceed, the question would have been conducted in a neutral environment where I could have been presented, hopefully, with all of the information to make an informed choice, not have to make that choice and have the person investigating the activity be someone who wrote my personnel evaluations, or who decided if I got a career course or what job I had next.
To have that investigation take place outside of the chain of command is incredibly important. It's also important, I think, for trust in the confidentiality of the process, which I don't think people trust will happen when it's the people you see every day and the army can sometimes be a gossipy place.
I really do think it's necessary to have a neutral and partial independent body who can talk to survivors about their choice and then investigate this, so that when making the decision they don't feel like an investigation is going to impact every element of their current and future career—and also for the accused person's career. The accused person also deserves to have an investigation done, not by their chain of command and to have the full benefit of confidentiality.
Currently, I think the system is quite flat in that regard. I practise criminal law. The system simply cannot continue to be one that is decided by the same people who have extreme control over the future of your life. That's the biggest gap that I see. Currently the process, the sexual misconduct reporting centre, doesn't really change that.