'These numbers are tragic': Pentagon leaders concede efforts to curb sexual assault have fallen short
WASHINGTON – Pentagon officials conceded Thursday that their efforts to combat sexual assault in the military have failed to protect troops, calling the latest data "extremely disappointing" and even "tragic."
Sexual assault in the military soared to unprecedented levels in 2021 despite years of Pentagon pledges to stamp out sexual assault, a trend that erodes the military's foundation – trust among the people who volunteer to serve.
"Despite years of promises to address this scourge, by every measurable standard the problem has gotten worse, not better," said Don Christensen, the president of Protect Our Defenders, a group that advocates for victims of sexual assault in the military. He suggested some Pentagon officials should lose their jobs over the new findings.
Sex crimes, which range from groping to rape, hit an all-time high in 2021, according to the results of a comprehensive survey released Thursday. At the same time, formal reports of sexual assault among those activel s, a rougher measure of the problem because the crime is underreported, climbed to 7,260, another all-time high. Only about one in five troops reported their allegations, down from about one third in 2018, a worrisome signal that troops are losing trust in their leaders to address the problem.
Not surprisingly, troops' trust in the Pentagon to protect them has plummeted. When asked if they trust the military system to ensure their safety following a sexual assault, 40% of women said they did in 2021, down from 69% in 2018.
The latest: The Pentagon released a report on Thursday that showed about 35,900 troops were the victims of sexual assault in 2021. Based on a confidential survey of active duty troops, the report has a new format that renders findings in previous years not statistically comparable. Nonetheless, officials said the findings represent a troubling, record-setting baseline for sexual assault.
In 2021, 8.4% of active duty female service members and 1.5% of active duty men indicated they had endured at least one sexual assault in the previous year. That level was the highest for women since the Pentagon began tracking the data in 2006, and the second highest for men.
Women in the Marine Corps suffered the most among the armed services from sexual assault, with 13.1% reporting the crime had been committed against them in the previous year. They were followed by 10.1% of women in the Navy; 8.4% of women in the Army and 5.5% of women in the Air Force.
The survey found that estimated 29% of active duty women experienced an incident of sexual harassment in 2021, up from the 24% for 2018.
What's about to happen?
A key member of Congress called for a hearing on the new data. Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who chairs the Armed Services Committee's panel on personnel, said Thursday she'll demand greater accountability from Pentagon leaders.
What is the military doing about the problem of sexual assault?
The budget request for 2023 earmarks $940 million for Pentagon sexual assault prevention and response programs, including 2,400 personnel to staff the programs.
In the military, decisions to prosecute sex crimes have been stripped from commanders and invested in career prosecutors, a move that advocates say will result in more perpetrators being held accountable. Meanwhile, scores of recommendations from an independent commission on sexual assault are being implemented, including better care for victims, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks has said.
Top takeaways
The report is a damning indictment of a culture within the military that has allowed the crisis of sexual harassment and assault to continue to grow despite hundreds of millions of dollars invested in prevention and response programs. The lives and careers of more than 35,000 troops were changed "irrevocably" by the crimes committed against them primarily by their colleagues, Elizabeth Foster, executive director of the Pentagon's office of Force Resiliency, told reporters on Thursday.
What they are saying
"Our numbers indicate that this is the highest sexual assault estimated prevalence rate for women since the department started measuring sexual assault prevalence in 2006," said Foster. "This year is the second highest prevalence rate for men, the highest was in 2006. These numbers are tragic, and extremely disappointing. On an individual level, it is devastating to conceptualize that these numbers mean that over 35,000 service members lives and careers were irrevocably changed by these crimes."
"These numbers are a devastating indictment of the military leadership's failure to reduce sexual assault and harassment within its ranks," said Christensen of Protect Our Defenders. He is also a retired Air Force colonel who served as the service's chief prosecutor. "If generals and admirals displayed this consistent record of failure in any other area of responsibility, they would have been fired years ago. It's past time for that to happen."
"After 10 years, Congress has seen enough to demand greater accountability as it relates to sexual assault and sexual harassment in our military," Speier said. "The disturbing and marked increase in both sexual assault incidents and prevalence military wide by 35% for servicewomen – and more than doubling for servicemen – and the equally troubling plummet in trust and confidence among our servicemembers for the Defense Department to rectify these injustices only raises more red flags."
Trust that troops will protect one another is a bedrock principle of the good order and discipline the military needs to be ready to fight. Record levels of sexual assault among them chips away at that foundation. Just as alarming: troops' confidence that commanders and senior civilians will take care of them has diminished.
"Sadly, this is a new high watermark for the department," said Nathan Galbreath, acting director of the Pentagon's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sexual assaults on female troops in military surged 2018-2021