The number of sexual assaults in the U.S. military increased again in 2019, but at a lower rate than the previous year, according to an annual Pentagon report released on Thursday. According to this report from the Department of Defense Office for the Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Assault (SAPR), the number of sexual assaults and sexual crimes brought to the attention of the military authorities rose to 7,825, up 3% from 2018. Last year, the increase was 13%.
The number of reports increased most sharply (+ 9%) in the Air Force, while it increased by 5% in the US Navy, by 2% in the Army and that it decreased by 6% in the elite unit of the Marines. The report notes that 73% of sexual assaults are committed by a superior. The proportion of military personnel reporting sexual assault remained stable compared to the previous year, at 5.1 per 1,000, the document said.
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While the Marines were regularly singled out in previous years for the proportion of sexual assaults in their ranks, the 2019 figures show that the differences between services are being reduced. The proportion of reports in the army remains at 5.5 per thousand as in 2018, but it rose in one year from 4.8 to 5 per thousand in the US Navy, from 4.3 to 4.6 per thousand in the US Air Force and it fell among the Marines, to 5.4 against 5.7 per thousand the previous year.
"One of our prevention efforts this year has been to prepare leaders at all levels to better communicate with our youngest soldiers, who are most at risk," said Nate Galbraith, director of SAPR. "Helping our newly engaged leaders and officers creates a healthy atmosphere in the units that will benefit our soldiers and all those who serve" in the military, he added.
