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Sexual assault reports in military academies increased, Pentagon finds An
anonymous survey conducted by the Defense Department showed that despite
prevention efforts, cases of sexual assault and harassment are growing among men
and women in military academies.


NATIONAL


IN MILITARY ACADEMIES, 1 IN 5 FEMALE STUDENTS SAID THEY EXPERIENCED SEXUAL
ASSAULT

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March 12, 20236:42 PM ET

Juliana Kim

Enlarge this image

A cadet waits for the arrival of cadet candidates at the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point in 2016. The Defense Department's recent survey showed that many
young military academy students are still reluctant to come forward about sexual
assault and harassment. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Drew Angerer/Getty Images


A cadet waits for the arrival of cadet candidates at the U.S. Military Academy
at West Point in 2016. The Defense Department's recent survey showed that many
young military academy students are still reluctant to come forward about sexual
assault and harassment.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Department of Defense received 155 formal reports of sexual assault at three
military academies during the 2021-22 school year — and officials suspect that
hundreds more went unreported.

The figure comes from a mandated anonymous survey conducted at service academies
to address the likelihood that many young men and women are reluctant to come
forward about sexual assault and harassment — an issue that has plagued the
military for years.


POLITICS


A COMMISSION FINDS 'QUITE A LOT OF TOLERANCE' FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE
MILITARY

About 12,700 students are enrolled at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,
the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy. These schools are
considered training grounds to shape the future leaders of the military.

The survey found that 21.4 percent of female students and 4.4 percent of male
students indicated that they experienced unwanted sexual contact, from groping
to rape, in the past school year — which could mean over 1,100 students were
victims but only 14 percent of cadets and midshipmen went on to report the
incident to military authorities, the Defense Department estimates.

The grim data, released on Friday, also found significant declines in
perceptions of trust toward the academies' senior leaders. When asked whether
they trust the military system to protect their privacy and treat them with
"dignity and respect" after an alleged incident, only 59 percent of women
expressed confidence compared with 72 percent in the 2017-18 school year; only
76 percent of men agreed, compared with 83 percent in the 2017-18 academic year.



"A major failure in trust is at the core of this crisis," said Rose Carmen
Goldberg, a California-based lawyer who has represented veterans who survived
military sexual trauma.

The Defense Department also showed that formally reported incidents went up by
18 percent in the 2021-22 school year compared with the previous year, when
academies received a combined total of 131 reports.


LESBIAN, GAY AND BISEXUAL STUDENTS WERE MORE LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE UNWANTED
SEXUAL CONTACT

The survey found that alleged offenders were most often fellow students in the
same class year. Cases of sexual assault took place on and off academy grounds,
from a dorm room to a party, and most often occurred after duty hours on a
weekend or a holiday.

According to the survey, lesbian, gay and bisexual students were significantly
more likely to experience unwanted sexual contact compared with their
heterosexual peers. And the number of men who self-identified as having
experienced unwanted sexual contact rose from over 2 percent in 2018 to 4.4
percent in 2022.

Cases of sexual harassment were significant too, the survey said. Last school
year, 63 percent of female students and 20 percent of male students said they
experienced sexual harassment — which amounts to nearly 4,000 victims, the
Defense Department estimates.


NATIONAL


VANESSA GUILLÉN'S MURDER LED THE U.S. TO DEEM MILITARY SEXUAL HARASSMENT A CRIME

"The current situation is unacceptable and we must improve our culture," said
Vice Adm. Sean Buck, the superintendent of the Naval Academy.

Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, the Air Force Academy's superintendent, said, "Those
found to have perpetrated sexual harassment and violence under my command will
be held accountable."

Similarly, Lt. Gen. Steven W. Gilland, the superintendent for the Military
Academy in West Point, said "We take any allegation seriously and investigate
appropriately using our dedicated resources."


ALCOHOL WAS INVOLVED IN 60 PERCENT OF CASES OF UNWANTED SEXUAL CONTACT

According to the survey, 60 percent of cases of unwanted sexual contact involved
excessive drinking by either the victim, the alleged offender or both.



But the Defense Department also noted that, while service academies have seen
progress in reducing excessive alcohol use among students, those efforts did not
impact the rate of unwanted sexual contact. Likewise, advocates say it is not
the fundamental issue.

"I see alcohol and maybe the permissive policies on alcohol as a symptom of the
problem, but not necessarily the crux of the problem," said Josh Connolly, the
vice chair of Protect Our Defenders, a group focused on ending sexual violence
in the military.


CALLS FOR MORE ACCOUNTABILITY

To Connolly, a major driver in the growing assault rate is a lack of
accountability for academy leaders to produce tangible progress and support
victims.


NATIONAL SECURITY


MILITARY PANEL URGES TAKING SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES OUT OF COMMANDERS' CONTROL

Over the years, the academies have rolled out various prevention programs and
policies to curb sexual assault, but cases are still investigated by the
military rather than a third outside party, which Connolly suggests creates a
culture of fear.

"If there's a toxic climate and there's no accountability, the problem only gets
worse — bystanders don't do the right thing, people don't feel they can come
forward, and there's a huge issue of retaliation," he said.

Goldberg from California echoed that sentiment, adding that tangible change
needs to include hiring neutral decision makers and care providers, "so that
perpetrators know that accountability is more than a buzz word in
anti-harassment trainings, and so that survivors will be supported instead of
retaliated against every step of the way."

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