The Pentagon estimates that unwanted sexual contact increased nearly 50 percent at the three military service academies since the 2015-2016 academic school year.
According to the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, 747 cadets and midshipmen out of the 12,000 that attend the three military service academies responded that they received unwanted sexual contact during the 2017-2018 academic school year — a 47 percent jump from the 507 cadets and midshipmen during the 2015-2016 academic school year.
The numbers were released by the Pentagon Thursday and are based on an anonymous biennial survey sent to the military academies. The survey results reflected unwanted sexual contact including groping and rape.
“It is imperative that we fortify our efforts to promote and sustain safe and respectful climates,” Rear Adm. Ann Burkhardt, director of the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, said in a statement. “We must strive to keep the trust of the parents who send their sons and daughters to serve that they will be treated with dignity and respect. Unwanted sexual contact is one of the most destructive factors in building a mission-focused military, so we all must take a more active role in combating this horrendous crime.”
Of all the military service academies, West Point saw the widest reported increase. There, 16.5 percent of women and 3.4 percent of men claimed they experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2018, in comparison with 10.2 percent of women and 1.4 percent of men in 2016. More women at the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy also claimed they had experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2018 than they had in 2016, but statistics among men were virtually the same at the two military service academies in 2018 and 2016.
But in total, there was not a dramatic increase in the number of sexual assaults reported by cadets and midshipmen. All three service academies only received 117 reports of sexual assault concerning cadets and midshipmen — five more reports than the previous academic year. This number includes both restricted reports, which are confidential and do not prompt and investigation, and unrestricted reports, which could pave the way for prosecution.
The military service academies launched new efforts in summer 2018 to reduce sexual assault on campus targeting prevention and improved reporting, among other things. Although the impact of the new development wasn’t taken into account in the survey, the academies say the information will be used to help address the issue in the future.
“Our commitment is absolute,” Dr. Elizabeth Van Winkle, director of the Pentagon’s Office of Force Resiliency, said in a statement. “While we are disheartened that the strategies we have employed have not achieved the results we had intended, we are not deterred.”
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