I am Vanessa Guillén Act of 2021

The I am Vanessa Guillén Act of 2021 (S. 1611) proposes a major overhaul of how the U.S. military handles reports of sexual assault and harassment. If enacted, the bill would move the authority to prosecute these crimes away from a service member’s immediate chain of command and into the hands of independent, specialized military prosecutors.

For service members and their families, this means that decisions about whether to go to trial would be made by legal professionals rather than unit commanders, who may have personal or professional ties to the individuals involved. Additionally, the bill would establish sexual harassment as a specific crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and create a process for service members to file claims for damages against the Department of Defense in cases of negligence. While the standalone bill was referred to committee, many of its core provisions were later incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 and signed into law.