Pentagon officials say an overall decline in reported sexual assaults among active-duty military personnel and military academies shows that leaders are finally addressing a long-standing problem. I am cautiously optimistic that this is an indication.
Beth Foster, executive director of the Pentagon’s Office of Military Resilience, said Thursday that “DOD leadership has made this a top priority and is deeply committed to this effort, and we are beginning to turn the curve.” Stated.
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But there is a long and difficult road ahead to sustain that progress, where officials say hazing and other harmful practices are common, especially in the Army, Navy and Air Force academies.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the latest report was encouraging, but added: “We must redouble our efforts to end sexual assault and harassment.”
Here are the takeaways from the latest assessment of sexual assault in the U.S. military.
Active Duty Forces by the Numbers
During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, there were 8,515 sexual assaults involving U.S. military personnel, down from 8,942 in 2022. Despite the decline, the 8,515 incidents are the third-highest number of reported assaults since the Pentagon began keeping count. data.
The report’s accompanying confidential biennial survey found a 19% drop in the number of service members who said they had experienced some type of unwanted sexual contact.
The Pentagon is visible from Air Force One flying over Washington on March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Patrick Semanski)
More than 29,000 active-duty military members reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact in the previous year, compared to nearly 36,000 in 2021, according to an online survey. This is the first decrease in eight years.
All military services were reduced.
The number of reported sexual assaults in the Army decreased from 3,718 in 2022 to 3,507 last year, while the Navy decreased from 2,052 to 1,942 and the Air Force from 1,928 to 1,838. The Marine Corps had the smallest decline, from 1,244 to 1,228.
The total of 8,515 people included 541 military personnel who reported assaults that occurred before they enlisted, and 612 civilians who said they had been assaulted by military personnel.
sexual harassment
Last year, service members filed 2,980 complaints of sexual harassment, of which 1,372 were substantiated. This is a decrease compared to the previous year, when there were 3,201 complaints, of which 1,053 were substantiated.
Services overall saw a slight decrease.
But the study uncovered a much broader problem, highlighting how little is actually being reported.
The survey found that one in four women and nearly 6% of men in the military said they had experienced sexual harassment in the past year. Approximately 80% of the U.S. military is male, meaning that more men (60,330) than women (55,464) reported being harassed.
at the academy
U.S. military academies also had fewer reports of sexual assault during the academic year that ended last spring compared to the previous year, which military leaders have argued requires a major overhaul of the school’s leadership structure. It’s just a small beginning.
Overall, the number of reported assaults involving students decreased from 170 in 2022 to 137 in the 2023 academic year. Of the 137 cases, 13 were reports filed by active duty military personnel regarding previous incidents.
All three military academies saw declines. The Naval Academy in Maryland went from his 63 students in the 2022 school year to his 49 students last year. The Air Force Academy in Colorado rose from 57 points to 45 points, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York rose from 50 points to 43 points.
But military commanders are still working to address a study that found a dramatic 18% spike in 2022 and an increase in unwanted sexual contact of all kinds, from groping to rape, in all schools. There is. Alcohol was cited as an important factor.
Domestic and child abuse
The Department of Defense’s Family Advocacy Program handles domestic abuse-related cases. According to the report, there were 484 adult victims of domestic violence-related sexual assault, up from 467 in 2022. Almost all victims in 2023 were women, and only 3% were men.
There were 229 child sexual abuse victims reported in 2023, down from the previous year’s total of 269. Again, the overwhelming majority were women, with 14% being men.
According to the report, there were 197 offenders in 2023, of which 103 were military parents, 27 were civilian parents, and the rest were other caregivers, whether family or not.
hire more staff
A major initiative within the department is aimed at building a larger, more specialised sexual abuse response and prevention workforce.
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These services have committed more than $1 billion in the past two budgets to improve programs and hire up to 2,500 people. New staff will undergo additional training and be considered a full-time workforce to be placed at military installations around the world.
The recruitment process has stalled a bit in the early stages and is a little behind schedule. More than 1,000 people have been hired so far. But officials said Thursday that the problems are being resolved and that the company is on track to meet its goal of hiring all 2,500 jobs by the end of the 2028 fiscal year.
