Pentagon report: Sexual assault down in military, reporting up
Top Defense officials say the number of estimated cases of sexual assault in the military has decreased since 2014 and the reporting of those crimes has increased, according to the Department of Defense's annual report on sexual assault in the military.
The report conducted a comprehensive sexual assault assessment for fiscal year 2016 in order to provide insight into future sexual assault prevention measures, training and victim care initiatives.
"Overall, this year's report shows indications of progress with the number of active duty servicemembers we estimated experienced a sex assault has decreased since 2014, they are at the lowest levels we have seen since we began surveying on prevalence," said Dr. Elizabeth Van Winkle, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Readiness.
In addition to the decrease in cases, Van Winkle says that the proportion of service members who reported sexual assault had increased.
"Increased reporting is critical to making sure service members receive restorative care and the dept. We see increases in rates as an indicator of a continued trust in our response and report systems," added Van Winkle.
While the numbers show progress, officials noted that existence of assault within the military "undermines the readiness of the fighting force and takes the focus off the mission at hand."
Navy Rear Admiral Ann Burkhardt, the Director of DoD's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, said she was heartened by latest findings, but was quick to say that the military "does not confuse progress with success."
"As we take measures to protect men and women from sexual assault, it's important to take a hard look within and seek ways to improve. Every policy and initiative we put out are designed to substantially reduce the occurrence of assault and encourage the filing of reports," said Burkhardt.
Burkhardt noted that in order to continue to evolve prevention efforts, the Department plans to work in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control to advance a public health approach to "building safer military communities" to help stop misconduct before it occurs.
Other key findings from the report:
14,900 service members experienced some form of sexual assault in 2016, that's down from 20,300 in 2014
6,172 reprots of sex assaualt as either victims or subjects in 2016, a 1 ½ percent increase in reports
9 percent of reports were from service members who reported incident prior to their service
1 in 3 service members chose to report sexual assault as opposed to 1 in 4 in 2014
- 21.4 percent of military women and 5.7 percent of military men indicated they experienced some form of sexual harassment, down from 21.5 percent and 6.6 percent respectively in 2014