COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Military Service: Women
Reports of Sex Assault in Military Rise 40%
Bradley Olson, Baltimore Sun
March 17, 2006
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The number of reported sexual assaults in the
military increased by almost 40% in 2005, although some of the rise is
due to new Pentagon programs that make reporting assault easier and
more confidential, according to a Defense Department report released
Thursday.
There were 2,374 reported sexual assaults involving military service
members last year, the report said, 674 more than in 2004, when the
Defense Department began tallying them under congressional mandate.
Much of the increase came from a new policy permitting "restricted"
reports, which let alleged victims get medical attention and
counseling without notifying investigators.
The military received 435 restricted reports after the program began
June 14. The alleged victims in a quarter of those cases later
requested that the reports be unrestricted for investigation.
Officials said assault reports might have been more numerous if
restricted reporting had been allowed earlier.
"The fact that the numbers are up, to us, is an indication that our
program is up and our program is working," said Dr. Kay Whitley,
deputy director of the Defense Department's Sexual Assault Prevention
and Response Office.
The numbers will probably keep rising, Whitley said — not because of
an increase in assaults, but because programs to encourage reporting
are working.
Other reasons for the rise include an Army policy change whereby
reports deemed unsubstantiated are now counted in the overall total.
The Army used to investigate allegations and dismiss some reports, a
common FBI Uniform Crime Reporting practice, the report said.
The 2005 Defense Authorization Act, which requires the Pentagon to
provide an annual summary of sexual assault reports, was passed after
a U.S. Air Force Academy scandal in which cadets said senior
commanders often ignored rape allegations. The scandal prompted the
Defense Department to evaluate how sexual assault allegations were
handled military-wide.
About two-thirds of the 2,047 unrestricted reports were investigated,
and the remaining third are pending, the report said. Punitive action
was taken in 274 cases — 79 by court-martial, 91 by nonjudicial
punishment and 104 through administrative punishment such as a
military discharge.
About half of the 1,386 cases investigated were deemed
unsubstantiated, and final action against offenders was being
processed in 352 cases.
This archive consists of a topically organized selection of
articles culled by members of the Counter-Recruitment List Serve from printed
publications and web sites. The archive is not complete. We have chosen
material relevant to the work of