A lot of people have at last sat up and taken notice of the scourge that is sexual abuse and harassment in the workplace, with a particular concern about the venue in which damage to trust in command is a matter of national security: America’s military.

This week U.S. Army Pacific gave word that, among other initiatives, it is inspecting workplaces as well as reviewing the personnel who handle abuse cases to be sure they are qualified.

That is a necessary response to all the attention the issue has drawn lately, but this is a problem that can’t be resolved through internal means alone.

External intervention was needed and supplied recently by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of at least three Kauai women who had brought the agency a galling tale of sexual harassment in the civilian workplace. The EEOC last week announced a $150,000 settlement of a lawsuit the agency had filed against Panda Express Inc. and Panda Restaurant Group Inc., prompted by the initiative of one of the victims.

This action followed allegations that starting in 2008 a supervisor at the Kauai Village Shopping Center restaurant had harassed the female employees, ages 17-19. According to the lawsuit, there had been sexual advances, demands for sexual favors and graphic sexual comments, with incidents occurring daily.

Besides infuriating any parent of a working teenager, this episode should be a cautionary tale for any employer who otherwise might be inclined to look the other way in similar circumstances.

There’s been in the past decade or more a heightened sensitivity among employers to the liability risks from sexual harassment — conduct of a sexual nature that creates an uncomfortable or hostile work environment for an employee, and the tally of charges filed before the EEOC has declined somewhat.

Hovering around 15,000 cases in the late 1990s, the most recent figures from 2011 show a low of 11,364 cases. The proportion of charges filed by males has risen from about 12 percent to 16 percent, so although the victims are overwhelmingly female, this is a problem that can affect everyone, and one that employers must work to counter.

Even more chilling has been the recent crisis of outright sexual assault in the military. Pentagon figures put the number of sexual assaults in the armed forces at 26,000 last year. The country has been shocked by news that the assailants included officers specifically assigned to handle such cases in their units.

This outrageous betrayal of trust and utter lapse in duty has been the focus of U.S. Capitol hearings this week, with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand pressing for legislation to take sex abuse allegations out of the military chain of command.

The measure, which would direct such cases to an independent military prosecutor, deserves to pass, as the military command has not shown the willingness to correct course on its own.

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a captain in the Hawaii National Guard, has been another visible spokeswoman on the issue. She decried the failings of the military most recently on national TV, appearing on CNN with another Hawaii-born military veteran in Congress, Rep. Tammy Duckworth.

"The commander should not have the power to overturn a jury’s verdict," Gabbard said.

She couldn’t be more correct.

The issue has drawn some criticism from those who say the sexual encounters happen because of the close quarters men and women keep in the armed forces. There’s no doubt that having more women in the military ranks has compelled some adjustments to be made, but nothing — nothing — excuses the behavior.

Men and women live and work in close quarters in the civilian world as well, and abuse is not excused in that context.

The fact is that women continue to have a growing presence in the business world. A recent Pew Research Center analysis of Census and polling data shows that 40 percent of households with minor children are now supported by female breadwinners.

If their position in the workforce isn’t given the basic respect that it deserves, those victimized by sexual abuse and harassment must be encouraged by recent events to fight back.