After a woman said she was sexually assaulted at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center four months ago, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs publicly called her claims “unsubstantiated,” according to an article on the WAMU website.
This caused a backlash from veterans who say officials aren’t doing enough to make the D.C. VA safe for women veterans.
The lack of evidence necessary to bring charges was related to an ongoing safety issue that’s also been cited at other facilities: The video cameras that could have captured the incident were not working at the time of the alleged assault.
A Inspector General report in March of 2018 downgraded the D.C. V.A to a one-star rating, putting it in the bottom 10 percent of VA hospitals. The report cited inadequate security and maintenance of physical facilities, and breakdowns in oversight and accountability.
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