Deepening Downturn Sexual Harassment Had a Three Dozens of Cases Times Greater Risk of Sexual As- Sault Than Those Who Did Not, Ac- Page 7 Cording to the Report
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NFL FACES WAR Navy standout Perry Julie Andrews hopes early SEALs attempted eager to pursue pro release of podcast will help to find American career with Dolphins families during quarantine taken by militants Back page Page 16 Page 6 Air Force issues 150K gun locks at US bases in bid for safety » Page 3 Volume 79, No. 10 ©SS 2020 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2020 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas MILITARY CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK DOD: Increase in reports of sexual assault, harassment BY CAITLIN M. KENNEY Stars and Stripes WASHINGTON — Rates of sexual assault and harassment reports in the military have in- creased since last year, accord- ing to a Pentagon report released Thursday. The Defense Department’s fis- cal year 2019 report on sexual assault in the military said there were 7,825 sexual assault reports involving service members as victims or subjects, a 3% increase compared to 2018. The increase in reports can’t be characterized as an increase in assaults, according to the Pentagon, because a sepa- rate survey on prevalence is only conducted every other year. The military received 1,021 formal sexual harassment com- plaints, a 10% increase from 2018. This year’s report focused on four areas related to the “strengths and challenges” that the military services have in their sexual assault response and TONY DEJAK/AP prevention programs, including “unit climate.” A man walks past a closed business Wednesday in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The U.S. economy shrank at a 4.8% annual rate last quarter as Most military sexual assaults the coronavirus pandemic shut down much of the country and began triggering a recession that will end the longest expansion on record. happen between service mem- bers who work or live nearby, and “when unit climates are tolerant RELATED STORIES of other forms of misconduct, risk of sexual assault increases,” Marine Corps basic the report states. For active duty training base hit by women, those who experience Deepening downturn sexual harassment had a three dozens of cases times greater risk of sexual as- sault than those who did not, ac- Page 7 cording to the report. 30 million have sought US jobless aid since virus hit This year’s report reflects feed- back from 61 focus groups at eight USNS Comfort BY CHRISTOPHER RUGABER That is more people than live in the New York installations in the United States Associated Press and Chicago metropolitan areas combined, and with over 490 service members leaving NYC after and first responders who work it’s by far the worst string of layoffs on record. seeing little action WASHINGTON — More than 3.8 million laid- It adds up to more than one in six American with survivors. off workers applied for unemployment benefits On unit climate, focus group workers. Page 8 last week as the U.S. economy slid further into With more employers cutting payrolls to save participants said that service a crisis that is becoming the most devastating money, economists have forecast that the unem- members find it hard to fully de- since the 1930s. Get the latest on ployment rate for April could go as high as 20%. fine sexual harassment and that Roughly 30.3 million people have filed for job- That would be the highest rate since it reached male and female service mem- the virus outbreak less aid in the six weeks since the coronavirus bers define it differently. outbreak began forcing millions of employers 25% during the Great Depression. SEE INCREASE ON PAGE 8 stripes.com/coronavirus to close their doors and slash their workforces. SEE DOWNTURN ON PAGE 10 PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Friday, May 1, 2020 BUSINESS/WEATHER EXCHANGE RATES Fed will likely hold rates near zero for months Military rates Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9715 Euro costs (May 1) ................................$1.06 Thailand (Baht) .....................................32.44 Dollar buys (May 1) ..........................€0.8961 Turkey (Lira) .........................................6.9887 British pound (May 1) ..........................$1.22 (Military exchange rates are those Associated Press it could to provide support. time for us to get back to a more Japanese yen (May 1) ........................105.00 available to customers at military banking South Korean won (May 1) ............1,188.00 Speaking at a virtual news con- normal level of employment and Commercial rates facilities in the country of issuance WASHINGTON — The Feder- for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Bahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3779 ference, Powell said he believed ultimately, maximum employ- Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For al Reserve signaled Wednesday British pound .....................................$1.2505 the viral outbreak would imperil ment,” the chairman said. nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., Canada (Dollar) ...................................1.3893 that it will keep its key short-term purchasing British pounds in Germany), the economy for potentially a year Powell made a forceful, if indi- China (Yuan) ........................................ 7.0616 check with your local military banking interest rate near zero for the Denmark (Krone) ............................... 6.8688 or more, particularly if a vaccine rect, plea for Congress to spend as facility. Commercial rates are interbank Egypt (Pound) ......................................6.8955 foreseeable future as part of its rates provided for reference when buying or an effective treatment isn’t de- much as necessary to aid workers Euro ........................................ $1.0861/0.9207 extraordinary efforts to bolster veloped before then. He warned and businesses. And despite his Hong Kong (Dollar) ..............................7.7516 currency. All figures are foreign currencies an economy that is sinking into its Hungary (Forint) .................................325.20 to one dollar, except for the British pound, that a deep and prolonged re- previously expressed concerns Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.4964 which is represented in dollars-to-pound, worst crisis since the 1930s. cession could cause devastating about surging deficits, Powell Japan (Yen) ...........................................106.56 and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.) Chairman Jerome Powell damage by forcing businesses urged Congress not to fret about Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3093 INTEREST RATES noted the gravity of the down- Norway (Krone) .................................10.2741 into bankruptcy, keeping unem- the cost of expanded government Philippines (Peso).................................50.48 Prime rate ................................................3.25 turn caused by the coronavirus ployment high and eroding the aid. Congress has already ap- Poland (Zloty) ..........................................4.18 Discount rate ..........................................0.25 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7575 Federal funds market rate ...................0.05 outbreak and made clear that the skills of idled workers. proved more than $2.5 trillion in Singapore (Dollar) .............................. 1.4111 3-month bill ............................................. 0.11 Fed would continue to do all that “It will probably take some rescue programs. South Korea (Won) ..........................1,209.91 30-year bond ...........................................1.24 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa 61/49 Kabul 70/51 Seoul 66/59 Baghdad 92/64 Kandahar 89/60 Osan Tokyo Mildenhall/ Drawsko 71/59 77/55 Lakenheath Pomorskie Busan 56/44 56/51 65/56 Iwakuni 62/56 Kuwait Bahrain Zagan Sasebo City 82/77 Brussels 60/51 Guam 88/72 57/47 Ramstein 66/54 84/80 Lajes, 55/50 Riyadh Doha Azores Stuttgart Pápa 96/68 94/77 64/61 55/44 63/53 Aviano/ Vicenza 59/52 Naples 65/57 Okinawa Morón 72/63 78/54 Sigonella Rota 76/48 The weather is provided by the Djibouti Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 90/82 70/55 66/58 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 15 Comics ...................... 17 Crossword ................. 17 Faces ........................ 16 Opinion ................ 18-19 Sports .................. 20-24 Friday, May 1, 2020 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MILITARY Air Force issues 150K gun locks in bid for safety BY JENNIFER H. SVAN cidental firearm discharges were Stars and Stripes responsible for the deaths of 458 people in 2018, 54 of whom were The Air Force is giving away under the age of 14. That same JOSHUA FREEDMAN AND JUSTIN MURPHY/Naval Postgraduate School 150,000 gun locks at all stateside year, there were 24,432 suicides bases as part of efforts to reduce by firearm in the United States, This slide from an April 2018 conference presentation at the Naval Postgraduate School illustrates how suicides and accidental deaths, according to agency data. researchers were inspired to look into using live relay nodes for mesh networks, by combining concepts the service said in a statement. Cable-style gun locks can be from research into grenade-launched network devices and the use of trained falcons against drones. The cable locks will be issued used for both pistols and shot- on a first-come, first-served guns. The cable is threaded basis. Airmen should contact through the weapon and blocks Wi-Fido: Military researchers say their base’s violence prevention the barrel or the use of ammuni- officer for details about local dis- tion. It’s secured by a padlock and tribution, officials