Sexual assault and sexual harassment (SASH) threaten the safety, trust, and cohesion essential to mission readiness in the U.S. Coast Guard. Investigations, internal reviews, and high-profile reports have highlighted systemic challenges in how the service prevents, responds to, and accounts for these behaviors.
In response, Congress directed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to commission an independent review of the Coast Guard’s approach to SASH. The authors conducted this study to provide an impartial, evidence-informed assessment of the service’s policies, programs, and institutional practices related to SASH. Separately, the Coast Guard conducted its own Accountability and Transparency Review, commissioned by the Commandant in July 2023, which produced 33 recommended actions to address harmful behaviors and strengthen accountability across the service. The authors examine Coast Guard efforts in light of those findings and recommendations while also identifying areas of progress, persistent gaps, and opportunities for structural improvement.
The purpose of the overall project is to evaluate the Coast Guard’s prevention and response strategies, victim support services to support recovery efforts, and accountability mechanisms for SASH. The authors assess the Coast Guard’s policies, how responsibilities are distributed across programs, and how requirements are executed in practice across a geographically dispersed workforce. Particular attention is given to transparency, command involvement, and the extent to which current systems prevent sexual assault and harassment and support both survivor needs and institutional accountability.
