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" Picture this: You are raped by a colleague, then your boss gets to decide if the case moves forward \u2014 assuming you report the crime and risk your career. That&amp;#039;s how it works in the military, and it&amp;#039;s a system that a fiery team of women in Congress has vowed to change. An estimated 26,000 people were sexually assaulted in the service last year, up from about 19,300 in 2010, according to a Pentagon survey. Yet only 3,374 cases were reported last year \u2014 and fewer than 10 percent of those went to trial. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) says the system is in desperate need of a fix. &amp;quot;Victims feel they can&amp;#039;t get justice,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;They fear retaliation.&amp;quot; This spring, she and 27 bipartisan senators and representatives proposed a bill that would reform the military legal system by appointing trained prosecutors \u2014 not officers in the victim&amp;#039;s chain of command \u2014 to decide whether serious crimes go to trial. Military brass objected, claiming that the current system promotes &amp;quot;order and discipline.&amp;quot; At press time, the future of Gillibrand&amp;#039;s plan was in doubt, but she vowed to continue battling for justice in the military ranks. Other women on the Hill have been in on the fight, too: Senators Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have pushed to strip generals of power to overturn assault convictions. Two female war veterans in the House, Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), also have spoken out for reform, as has Jackie Speier (D-CA), who has proposed three House bills aimed at curbing assault. &amp;quot;Women have taken on this issue with passion,&amp;quot; Gillibrand says. &amp;quot;And they will drive us across the finish line.&amp;quot; It won&amp;#039;t be easy. Says Speier: &amp;quot;Dwight Eisenhower warned about going up against the military industrial complex. We need to stay very firm and very committed to this task.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.marieclaire.com/culture/news/a7888/plan-of-attack/>