Sexual Harrassment Of Women In Military Up

(AP)  One-third of women in the U.S. military and 6 percent of men said they were sexually harassed, according to the latest Defense Department survey on the issue.

The figure for women was worse than the previous finding several years ago but better than a similar survey taken in 1995, the department said in a report Friday. The Defense Manpower Data Center said it compiled the data from a survey of 24,000 people in 2006.

A separate report on sexual assaults showed that fewer cases were reported among military personnel in 2007 after years of significant increases.

There were 2,688 sexual assaults reported last year by people in uniform, the figures showed. That was down about 9 percent from the 2,947 reported the year before.

Officials said some changes in the method of reporting data made it difficult to compare numbers year to year. In 2005, there were about 2,400 sexual assaults reported.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman did not confirm details of the report on sexual assaults but said "the minimal decrease in numbers should not be necessarily viewed as any type of indicator or change."

"It takes several years to develop usable trends in data," he said. "While the numbers are marginally down, it would be too early and premature to make any big assessments in terms of trends."

Reports of sexual assault reports had jumped by about 24 percent in 2006 and nearly 40 percent in 2005. Officials attributed the increases partly to more aggressive efforts to encourage victims to come forward.

Rep. Louise M. Slaughter, a Democrat, said she still was concerned that too few perpetrators are being brought to justice and not all victims are being helped.

"Even if these numbers are accurate, the problem of violence against women in the military remains pervasive," she said in a statement.

This is the fourth year the military has compiled detailed statistics on sexual assaults. The reporting methods have changed each year, complicating efforts to evaluate progress or to determine whether it is the actual assaults or the reporting that is going up or down.

The cases involved members of the military who were either victims or accused of the assaults. The military counts rape, nonconsensual sodomy, indecent assault and attempts to commit any of those as sexual assault.

According to the documents, 1,516 reports involved the Army; 565 for the Air Force; 394 for the Navy; and 213 for the Marines. The active duty Army, by far the largest service with about 518,000 soldiers, also saw the highest rate of reported sexual assaults.

The Army had 2.6 reports per 1,000 soldiers; the Air Force's rate was 1.6 reports per 1,000; the Marines' rate was 1.1 per 1,000; and the Navy's rate was 1 per 1,000 sailors. The average was 1.8 sexual assaults reported per 1,000 military members.

Also, this is only the second full year in which the military has included in the totals sexual assaults that are filed under a program that allows victims to report the incident and receive health care or counseling services but does not notify law enforcement or commanders.

For more information visit the Defense Department's Sexual Assault and Prevention Web site.

[lwc319]

I think that women shouldnt be allowed in the military anyway. I am a woman and married to a marine. Half of the women that scream sexual harrassment bring it on themselves. I've seen the female marines out here flirting with other married marines, and Im sure when their advances are denied thats when they run screaming sexual harrassment. Bottom line, you want to avoid it.. dont let women in the military!

[rushman71]

zootallures2: Oh, stick a weinerschnitzel where it don''t shine, swine!!!

[zootallures2]

Nice AirForce ad... Above All... Deutschland Deutschland |ber alles.

[zootallures2]

UP???? UP??????? I just read a story a few days ago that said it was down at it''s lowest point ever?

Is the corporate media a news source or lying lawers in a court case?

[downsteamjim]

The mathematician for this post must be the same one that organizes the delegates for the Democrat presidential contest. Very confusing. D-

[scottyusa]

Is this supposed to be some sort of surprise? Many of us saw this coming when women were first allowed in the military. The same thing happens in the workplace so there is nothing special about the military for this sort of thing.

[dev-advoc]

After 20 years in the military and 4 years working as a contractor this is not surprising. There is a serious lack of discipline in the military and it is due to senior leaderships'' lack of attention or not wanting to personnally correct sexual misbehavior. I''ve witnessed senior NCO''s and Officers in inappropriate situations that were not in line with good order and dicipline. I personnally feel the Army is the worst offender as they lack serious discipline.

[tbweb]

I''d like to see statistics to back up your claim.

Posted by flreason at 12:42 AM : Mar 15, 2008,,,

I just hear it word of mouth, I don''t have any official statistics, but my sources are very reliable!

To make the point further, check out this report:

Pregnancy on the U.S.S. Eisenhower

This issue assumes greater importance with the recent large-scale introduction of women to combatant vessels in 1994, starting with the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Eisenhower. On January 29, 1995, Navy officials revealed that 5 pregnant women had been evacuated from the Eisenhower, but that was only the beginning of the story.

The Center for Military Readiness soon learned that 24 other women assigned to the Eisenhower did not deploy, because of pregnancy. Of these, 14 took leave between April 1 and October 1, 1994, and 10 more left in the last three weeks prior to the ships October 20 deployment date!

In a March 19, 1995 Washington Post story about sexual misconduct on the Ike, (an enlisted man showed fellow sailors a videotape of himself having consensual s.e.x. with an enlisted woman) was the news that 9 more women had been evacuated from the carrier. On March 23, the Virginian Pilot reported that yet another pregnant woman had left the ship, rounding out the number to 15 evacuees that year, a total of 39 pregnancies since April of 1994, and still counting!

[flreason]

"...men are sexually harassed by women just as much as women by men."
Posted by tbweb

I''d like to see statistics to back up your claim. I have a daughter in the military. From what she tells me, the harrassment numbers are still underreported and guys are the main aggressors.

[tbweb]

Females might be just as aggessive as men, but I''ve never seen it. Maybe some of these young''ns!

Posted by Duffynight at 11:57 PM : Mar 14, 2008,,,

There is no need to see it, according to the CDC 1 in every 4 female teens has an STD and these teens are much more sexually active than previous generations, it was also reported that with over 28 STDs, Syphilis at one point almost eradicated has now exploded and is back in force.