CNN
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Sexual assault rates at U.S. military academies will “significantly decline” in 2024, down from a record high in 2022, according to a new Pentagon report released Thursday. But officials cautioned that more research was needed because the latest data were not yet available. This shows that the incidence of assault is higher than in previous years.
“We believe this data shows we are on the right track and that our ongoing recommendations and reforms are having an impact,” said Executive Director of the Under Secretary of Defense’s Office of Personnel and Force Resilience. Director Beth Foster said. He told reporters on Thursday that he was ready. “But if we don’t continue to institutionalize that effort, these rates and this trend could rise again.”
According to data published in the annual report on sexual harassment and sexual assault in military academies, 783 cadets and cadets experienced sexual assault, the last prevalence study published in 2022. This is a decrease from 1,136 people in 2017. In 2022, Foster called the high frequency of assaults “very unfortunate and upsetting.”
Foster called the data “encouraging” this year, saying, “For the first time in a decade, the department is seeing a decline in the prevalence of sexual assault at military academies.” However, although the decline recorded in 2024 is significant, the number is still high compared to previous years.
“The estimated number of students who have experienced unwanted sexual contact is the second highest on record,” said Lisa Davis, associate director of Health and Resilience Research in the Office of People Analytics.
There has also been a slight decline in the number of reported assaults starting in 2022, with data showing that approximately one in eight people who have experienced sexual assault will report it. Authorities typically want to see an increase in the number of reports to show confidence in the system to handle assault reports properly.
“What I’m saying is, compared to active duty forces, reporting rates are much lower in the academy,” Dr. Nate Galbreath, director of the Pentagon Sexual Assault Prevention Task Force, told reporters. . “So we think there’s more work to be done there.”
Foster attributed the decline in assaults to “unprecedented” investment in combating assault and harassment, particularly at military academies. She said a 2023 review of the academy found assaults were a “lagging indicator of a poor climate” at the academy.
That poor climate included a “lack of trust” and a sense of transparency, Dr. Andra Tharp, director of the Office of Command, Climate and Welfare Integration, told reporters. New data shows trust in the academy is increasing among both men and women, but women remain “much less trusting” than men.
In May, the Pentagon released a sweeping report on sexual assault in the military, which also found that reports of assault had declined for the first time in nearly a decade. According to the report, 7,266 service members reported sexual assault in 2023, compared to 7,387 the year before. This is the first decline on record since 2015.
Additionally, approximately 29,061 service members experienced unwanted sexual contact, down from an estimated 35,875 in 2021. Foster said at the time that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s priorities for addressing assault and harassment were “starting to bend the curve,” and that Austin would commit “more than $1 billion to efforts to reduce assault and harassment in fiscal year 2024.” I put it in.
“While it’s impossible to know exactly why the prevalence of sexual assault is decreasing, the Department’s unprecedented investment has had an impact, particularly on our areas of focus,” Foster said at the time. I am cautiously optimistic that this may be having an impact.” It’s about prevention and building a healthy climate. ”
Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect that Dr. Andra Tharp is the Director of the Department of Defense’s Command, Climate, and Welfare Integration Office.
