{"id":73208,"date":"2023-03-10T22:33:08","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T22:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/10\/military-academies-see-unprecedented-rise-in-sexual-assaults\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:26:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:26:13","slug":"military-academies-see-unprecedented-rise-in-sexual-assaults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2023\/03\/10\/military-academies-see-unprecedented-rise-in-sexual-assaults\/","title":{"rendered":"Military academies see unprecedented rise in sexual assaults"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By all metrics, the military\u2019s sexual assault problem has only grown worse even with more resources committed to fight it \u2013 especially at military service academies, which recorded the highest rate of sexual assault since 2006, when the Defense Department started measuring the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese numbers are extremely disappointing and upsetting. I mean, there\u2019s there\u2019s really no other way to see it,\u201d said Beth Foster, the DoD\u2019s executive director of force resiliency, describing the latest Pentagon progress report Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numbers in the overall military have also continued to rise. The latest annual DoD sexual assault report<\/a> showed the highest prevalence of incidents against women in the services since tracking began, with 8% of women and 1.5% of men experiencing unwanted sexual contact, second only to 1.8% in 2006.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Female cadets and midshipmen at the Air Force Academy and Naval Academy saw the biggest rise in incidents, 22% and 23% respectively in 2022. At West Point, the numbers were up 18%, according to the report. Rates also rose for men at the academies, hovering around 4% for all three, continuing the rising trend of unwanted sexual contact at military service academies<\/a>. Over that time period, the sharpest rises in <\/b>reported sexual assault <\/b>were in female Naval Academy midshipmen in 2010 and 2018, 16.5 in each of those years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis report confirms what many of us have feared \u2014 that the scourge of sexual assault in our military is only getting worse,\u201d Josh Connolly, vice chair of advocacy group Protect Our Defenders said in a release Friday. \u201cThis report is particularly troubling because it exposes a dramatic increase in the prevalence of this abhorrent behavior at the institutions that are responsible for shaping the military\u2019s future leaders.\u201d Connolly blamed \u201coutdated training and attitudes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to tracking reported incidents, the Pentagon alternates each year between surveys, or in-person focus group sessions at the academies, aimed at capturing further data on incidents that were not formally reported, helping official created an estimated overall rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this past year\u2019s survey, <\/b>155 reports of unwanted sexual contacts accounted for just under 14% of an estimated 1,100 overall incidents, with only 21.4% of women and 4.4% of men reporting their assaults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sexual assault incidents continue to go mostly unreported, said Nate Galbreath, deputy director of DoD\u2019s Sexual Assault and Prevention Office. In the active force, he added, the reporting rate is between 20% and 30%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In response to the report, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is directing a handful of measures<\/a>, including site visits to each academy to evaluate policies and training\/education. The Naval Academy\u2019s visit wrapped up Friday, with West Point next on the schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\t