Military Sexual Assault Cases Continue to Climb Despite Reforms
The three principal U.S. service academies have 131 reports of incidents of sexual assault in the 2020-2021 academic year, up from 88 the year prior year.
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Recently released data from the Defense Department shows that there were more complaints made during the 2020-2021 academic year than in any other since officials began tracking such statistics. Reports of sexual assault are on the rise at all three principal U.S. service academies, despite legislation passed by Congress to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and the implementation of various initiatives to mitigate and prevent sexual assault, reports the Washington Post. The U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, have received a total of 131 reports of incidents of sexual assault in the 2020-2021 academic year, up from 88 the year prior.
And while the acting director of the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office suggested these numbers indicated students were more comfortable coming forward, in reality,the estimated percentage of sexual assaults those reports represented either held steady or fell, belying the notion that a greater portion of victims were coming forward, instead of more incidents taking place. Between 2015 and 2018, the Pentagon found that only about 12 percent of sexual assault incidents at the military academies were reported. In comparison, reports of sexual assault in the active-duty military make up about 30 percent of incidents taking place.
