[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45890-45891]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15198]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Office of the Secretary

[Docket ID: DoD-2023-OS-0062]


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 
Readiness (OUSD(P&R)), Department of Defense (DoD).

ACTION: 30-Day information collection notice.

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SUMMARY: The DoD has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by August 
17, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela Duncan, 571-372-7574, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Title; Associated Form; and OMB Number: Optimization of Harassment 
Response for Service Members; DoD-wide Data Collection and Analysis for 
Department of Defense Qualitative Data Collection in Support of the 
Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault Recommendations; OMB 
Control Number 0704-0644.
    Type of Request: New Generic IC.
    Number of Respondents: 256.
    Responses per Respondent: 1.
    Annual Responses: 256.
    Average Burden per Response: 1 hour.
    Annual Burden Hours: 256.
    Needs and Uses: Data collection is necessary to provide 
recommendations in order to better address the needs of service members 
who have experienced harassment. We will be conducting focus groups 
with service members to determine their understanding of new policies 
changes and what services they would like available if they were to 
experience harassment. Data from the 2018 Workplace and Gender 
Relations Survey of Active Duty Members (WGRA) estimate that a total of 
116,300 Service members experienced sexual harassment (SH) in the year 
prior to

[[Page 45891]]

taking the survey. However, the Military Equal Opportunity (MEO) 
workforce receives fewer than 2,000 SH complaints annually. Prevalence 
rates for other forms of harassment--including hazing, bullying, and 
incidents based on race and sexual orientation--are not assessed as 
frequently. However, Service members experiencing all forms of 
harassment could benefit from support services. Any approach to address 
harassment within DoD will require a significant commitment of 
resources. Existing academic literature, data analytics, and research 
studies cannot serve as a complete guide for determining the 
ramifications of addressing these important changes. The Independent 
Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military (IRC) found the 
Military Departments' response to SH complaints from Service members is 
inconsistent and fails to render proper assistance. Specifically, DoD's 
approach to SH is fractured across several components and should be 
addressed in direct coordination with sexual assault prevention and 
response (SAPR) policies to reflect the established continuum of harm, 
namely that from sexual harassment to sexual assault. The IRC's cross-
cutting recommendation 1 prescribed a stop gap measure to support SH 
victims with appropriate SAPR services while the Department undertakes 
a review of all policies and structures tasked with addressing elements 
of the military's SH response. More broadly, DoD Instruction 1020.03 
requires harassment prevention and response policies to address a wide 
range of misconduct, but does not specify what kinds of response 
services, care, and support are appropriate for Service members 
reporting harassment. This project will examine how DoD can best 
provide harassment response services to Service members.
    Affected Public: Individuals or households.
    Frequency: Once.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    OMB Desk Officer: Ms. Jasmeet Seehra.
    You may also submit comments and recommendations, identified by 
Docket ID number and title, by the following method:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency 
name, Docket ID number, and title for this Federal Register document. 
The general policy for comments and other submissions from members of 
the public is to make these submissions available for public viewing on 
the internet at http://www.regulations.gov as they are received without 
change, including any personal identifiers or contact information.
    DOD Clearance Officer: Ms. Angela Duncan.
    Requests for copies of the information collection proposal should 
be sent to Ms. Duncan at [email protected].

    Dated: July 12, 2023.
Aaron T. Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2023-15198 Filed 7-17-23; 8:45 am]
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