Military Sexual Assault Hot Topic The military faces a major controversy when it comes to sexual harassment and assault. Both sides of this controversy generally believe that something needs to change for these crimes to decrease and for our soldiers to feel safe among their comrades. The basic topic of this question is how the government and military can change to decrease these crimes. This leads to the main question for this problem. Should military commanders prosecute sexual assault cases? A person cannot decide an issue if he does not know what the dispute is about. The reason is that the person does not have all the facts to make an informed option. Consequently, when we look at this controversy we must consider what sexual violence and sexual harassment are and the differences between the two. Sexual assault is forced or threatened sexual contact by another person. (Dictionary.com) An example of this would be rape because the person is forced into sexual intercourse, which is sexual contact. Sexual harassment is unwanted sexual advances from a supervisor or employer. (Dictionary.com) A boss might make an unwanted sexual comment such as “your breasts are nice” to an employer, this is unwanted and is a sexual comment. Consequently, this is sexual harassment. A person can make an informed option about the dispute now that they know what the focus of the dispute is on. Adding to this issue is looking at how the military was given the power to bring cases to their own courts and not to public courts. In the Articles of War of 1776 it was stated that rape or any capital crime was not brought before the commander but in the civil courts. Congress passed the "National Forces Enlistment and Call-up Act"... at the heart of the document... the committee members for this document would be military service members. These are the people who can testify to Congress for both sides of this issue because they are directly affected by the decision of who has the power to hear their cases.Works CitedDictionary.com. Dictionary.com. na na 2014. April 7, 2014. Gilibrand, Kirsten. “Should Commanders Address Sexual Assault?” US News Digital Weekly June 28, 2013: NA. Document.Koons, Jennifer. QC Researcher. August 9, 2013. Document. April 6, 2014.Library, Lillian Goldman Law. Lillian Goldman Law Library. na na 2008. 7 April 2014.Publications, Congress Proceedings and. Klobuchar legislation to help combat sexual violence in military included in National Defense Authorization. relationship. Lanham: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc., 2013. database.The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Workshop, 2010. Web. April 7 2014