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Local Congresswoman Pressures The Air Force To Change Brochure On Sexual Assault

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter

(WXXI News & AP) The Air Force has pulled a brochure circulated at a South Carolina base after a Rochester area lawmaker complained about some objectionable advice to sexual assault victims

Among the items in the brochure that bothered Congresswoman Louise Slaughter, a Fairport Democrat, was advice that a potential victim  consider submitting to an attack rather than resisting. 

That's something Slaughter says no service members should ever be advised. The brochure did also contain some common-sense recommendations, such as checking around a car before entering and using dead-bolt locks and peepholes when home alone. 

Slaughter has  released a copy of a letter she received from the Pentagon informing her of the Air Force's decision to withdraw the brochure from Shaw Air Force Base. The Pentagon said in the letter that it shared some of the lawmaker's concerns about some of the brochure's material. 

Randy Gorbman is WXXI's director of news and public affairs. Randy manages the day-to-day operations of WXXI News on radio, television, and online.