Pentagon reports slight rise in military’s sexual assaults over prior year

Reported sexual assaults in the U.S. military climbed by about 1 percent from last year, a slight jump attributed to a major decline in such reports within the Army but an increase across the other services, according to the Pentagon’s annual account on the issue. 

The Defense Department’s Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military for fiscal 2022, released Thursday, found reports for such assaults in the ranks rose far less than the 13 percent increase in 2021 from the previous year.  

The Army, the military’s largest branch, had a 9 percent drop in reported sexual assaults last year. The figure is a significant decline when compared to the nearly 26 percent jump in reports the service experienced from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2021, and one that helped keep the military’s overall increase low. 

But a 13 percent increase in the Air Force, a 9 percent jump in the Navy and a 4 percent rise in the Marine Corps offset the Army’s decrease in reports.  

Overall, there were 8,942 sexual assault reports filed from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022, up 1 percent from the 8,866 reports filed the previous year.

The release also included data on sexual harassment in the military, with the Pentagon finding a 7 percent increase in formal complaints of unwanted sexual contact in 2022 — with women making up more than 70 percent of those filing the complaints.  

It’s unknown whether the increase in reports is due to sexual assault becoming more prevalent in the military or because more people are willing to come forward due to more confidence in the reporting system. But the figures are a reminder that despite Pentagon efforts to address the long-standing problem — including new initiatives implemented in the past year — sexual assault and harassment in the military is still a major issue.  

In a memo to Pentagon leaders released ahead of the report, Gil Cisneros, under secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, acknowledged sexual assault and harassment remain a “persistent and corrosive” problem across the military.  

He highlighted a number of actions the Pentagon has undertaken in the past year to “improve accountability, prevention, culture and climate, and victim care and support,” requiring leaders’ commitment to the changes.  

Among those changes is the shift in using independent lawyers to review and prosecute sexual assault cases in the military as opposed to unit commanders, expected to come in December. 

Congress had long pressed for such a shift, arguing that commanders could be biased in deciding whether to prosecute or punish their troops for sexual assault. Lawmakers forced the Pentagon’s hand when it included the change in the annual defense policy bill signed last year.  

Other initiatives include more Pentagon hires to address sexual assault and better safety and treatment of those who come forward to report an attack.  

That’s on top of the 80 recommendations an Independent Review Commission gave DOD in 2021, all of which the Pentagon adopted into a plan to combat sexual assault and harassment in the ranks. 

“To be crystal clear, the department’s most senior leaders remain sharply focused on solving the scourge of sexual assault and sexual harassment,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters later on Thursday. “We’ll continue to work very hard to make sustained progress to bolster warfighter confidence and leadership, assist sexual assault survivors with recovery and hold offenders accountable. Sexual violence will not be tolerated, condoned or ignored within our ranks.”