Military Sexual Assault Hot Topic The military is facing major controversy when it comes to sexual harassment and sexual assault. Both sides of this controversy generally believe that something must be changed for these crimes to decrease and for our soldiers to feel safe among their comrades. The basic argument of this question is how the government and military can change to reduce these crimes. This brings us to the main question of this problem. Should military commanders prosecute sexual assault cases?. A person cannot make a decision on an issue if he or she does not know what the controversy is about. The reason is that the person does not have all the necessary elements to make an informed choice. Therefore, when we look at this controversy, we need to look at what sexual assault and harassment are and the differences between the two. Sexual assault is forced or threatened sexual contact of another person. (Dictionary.com) An example of this would be rape because the person is forced to have intercourse, which is sexual contact. Sexual harassment is an unwanted sexual advance from a supervisor or employer. (Dictionary.com) A boss might make an unwanted sexual comment like "your breasts look nice" to an employer, it is unwanted and it is a sexual comment. This is therefore sexual harassment. A person can make an informed opinion about the controversy now that they know what the controversy is focused on. It also examines how the military was given the authority 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 other capital crime was not brought before the commander but before the civil courts. Congress passed the "National Enlistment and Call-Up Act...... middle of document...... members of this newspaper would be military service members. These are the people who can testify to Congress for either side of this issue, because they are directly affected by the decision of who has the authority to hear their cases.Works CitedDictionary.com. Dictionary.com. na na 2014. April 7, 2014. Gilibrand, Kirsten. “Should Commanders Confront 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. April 7, 2014. Publications, Congressional Papers and. "Klobuchar legislation to help combat sexual assault in military included in National Defense authorization". report. Lanham: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc., 2013. database. The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. April 7 2014