( CNN ) -- It happens every so often : A military sexual assault scandal hits the headlines . Most recently , an Air Force general decided to pardon an officer convicted of rape . Then came revelations that not one but two of the service members that the military assigned to prevent sex abuse are under investigation for perpetrating it . And in light of a new Pentagon report estimating the number of military sexual assaults at 26,000 a year -- about half of them against men -- this time around , even many in the military community agree there is a problem that wo n't go away and ca n't be ignored . Congress is reacting , as it often does to headlines , by proposing reforms . But the current crop of ideas misses the mark . Sergeant trained to protect victims faces sexual assault allegations . The bills primarily propose changes to a commander 's authority to start or control cases in the military criminal justice system . But courts martial , with their due process and proof beyond a reasonable doubt , will always be too rare to make a difference . What changed the face of civilian employment was a civil legal approach -- sexual harassment law -- that made it cost money when employees are assaulted . This approach should n't be sidelined in addressing the military sexual assault problem . The civil legal system reaches people who probably wo n't see a criminal prosecution . It reaches people such as Joseph Oncale , who was sexually assaulted by several co-workers on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico . It reaches people such as Mechelle Vinson , who was 19 when she started work at a bank and the manager demanded that she sleep with him . The civil legal solution gives voice to workers who are not that different from the military members who face a command gone wrong : People working long hours , with few options , sometimes living at work , sometimes immigrants with nowhere else to go . The civil system balances workers ' needs against legitimate business concerns -- to give managers authority -- by making the employer pay if managers abuse that authority . The employer has an economic incentive to make sure that does n't happen . After officer charged in sex assault , military faces questions . This law changed what people thought was right . A friend told me that in the 1960s , a teacher told her she needed to sleep with him to pass . She said : `` We just called that life . '' Now , in the civilian world , it 's called sexual harassment , and it 's illegal . The military has n't had the benefit of that change . Civilian judges ( not Congress , and not the military ) made up special military immunities , loosely called the Feres doctrine , to block it . It 's time to overrule them . The civil legal approach can nip problems in the bud . It can stop a predator who is testing the waters or change a command environment that has lost sight of the need to treat all of its personnel professionally . If service members had the same rights as other employees to bring civil lawsuits , victims would have direct power to challenge abuses of authority . They would not have to wait for government officials to take up their case , and they might not have to wait until something as horrific as a criminal rape happened to them . Military rape victims : Stop blaming us . But does n't sexual harassment mean policing petty slights and awkward jokes ? That 's a myth . Even in the civilian workplace , to win you have to show behavior that is severe or pervasive to the objective observer -- something so serious or so frequent that it significantly alters working conditions . The military is not the civilian workplace , and its unique needs have to be considered carefully in any reform , whether criminal or civil . Civil actions are , after all , potentially less disruptive than outside prosecutors and anonymous tips . What happens next should come from a partnership between the uniformed services and civilian experts . But it should look more broadly at solutions that go beyond the latest scandal . Of course , some people think it would be unfair to make the military change . Boys will be boys , the thinking goes . When I joined the military , many of my contemporaries cringed , fearing the worst , but they were wrong : The men I served with met the highest standards of professionalism . To expect anything less is to undersell our men , and women , in uniform . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Maia Goodell .
Recently , two military sexual assault scandals hit the headlines . Maia Goodell : Congress should look beyond the military criminal justice system . Comment: Goodell : If service members can file civil lawsuits , victims can directly challenge abuser .