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"  \u00A0 &amp;quot;Disappointed we were unable to overcome a filibuster of the #MJIA today. I will not stop fighting for survivors of military sexual assault.&amp;quot; That was the message Senator Kirsten Gillibrand sent to Twitter followers after the bill intended to overhaul military sexual assault policies was killed in the Senate. Gillibrand authored the bill that was designed to give sexual assault victims greater freedom and incentive to report alleged crimes without ruffling the feathers of the deep-seeded command structure of the military. If passed, alleged victims of sexual crimes would not be required to report misconduct to their direct supervisors. Gillibrand was lobbying her colleagues in Washington up until the final roll call today, which resulted in a 55-45 loss. She needed 60 votes for the bill to pass. Ten of her Democratic colleagues voted against her, including Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri who had been a vocal opponent of Gillibrand&amp;#039;s bill from the beginning. Congress has been under pressure to examine the sexual assault problem in the military after a string of highly publicized cases. In January, charges were dropped against a Naval officer charged with sexually assaulting a 20-year-old female subordinate. A Pentagon report released in September 2013, cited 1,600 sexual assault cases in the military were in limbo. And just this week, Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair pleaded guilty to three lesser charges of assault. He will still go to trial for more serious claims brought by two female soldiers \u2014 including that he forced one to perform oral sex on him, and threatened to kill her family if she told anyone about their affair. Some of Gillibrand&amp;#039;s supporters remain hopeful. &amp;quot;Taking the long view, there&amp;#039;s a real victory here because we have improved the system whatever the outcome; we&amp;#039;ve raised public awareness,&amp;quot; Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) told Politico. &amp;quot;The military&amp;#039;s system of justice for sexual assault will never be the same.&amp;quot; RELATED:\u00A0 Pentagon&amp;#039;s Director of Sexual Assault Prevention Steps Down Follow Heather on Twitter. Photo credit: Getty Images \u00A0 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/news/a21657/military-sexual-assault-bill-blocked/?click=rel>