Sex assault reports up 11 percent last year - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Sex assault reports up 11 percent last year

Total incidents of reported sexual assaults involving service members — both as victims and perpetrators — rose 11 percent in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The Pentagon recorded a total of 3,230 incidents of sexual assault in fiscal 2009. The precise number of victims versus perpetrators is difficult to determine because of limitations in the reporting format; a single incident could involve multiple victims or multiple attackers, said Kaye Whitley, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

The numbers include all incidents involving service members; in some cases, a civilian may have been the victim or the perpetrator.

According to the report, 279 of the incidents were reported in the Middle East and South Asia — a 16 percent increase from fiscal 2008. Of these, 215 were recorded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Pentagon said the overall rate for all the services was two reports of sexual assault per 1,000 service members. The rates by service: the Army, 2.6 per 1,000; the Navy, 1.6 per 1,000; the Air Force, 1.4 per 1,000; the Marine Corps, 1.3 per 1,000.

Typically, the assaults involved junior enlisted service members 18 to 24 years of age; involved male attackers; and in about one-third of the cases, involved alcohol use, Whitley said.

The numbers are far from precise, however, because sexual assault crimes are widely underreported, both in the civilian world as well as in the military, Whitley said. The Pentagon estimates that only 20 percent of victims report the crimes, for reasons ranging from the perceived stigma of having been violated to fear of retribution.

“We don’t know how many sexual assaults there are,” Whitley said. “One of the things we are developing is a survey that we can administer yearly ... so we can get a better handle on the prevalence.”

Now, the Pentagon must rely solely on aggregate reports from service investigators and sexual assault response coordinators.

Fiscal 2008 reports

The Pentagon recorded a total of 2,908 reports in fiscal 2008. The increase in fiscal 2009 is a result that the Pentagon welcomes because sex crimes reports lag actual incidents and the higher number means that more sexual assaults are being reported.

“People are beginning to have confidence in our system, and they’re coming forward to report,” Whitley said. “Our goal was to increase reports, and they did go up 11 percent. And we are attributing that to our worldwide prevention strategy and social marketing campaign. And we’re pleased that reports are up.”

Whitley admitted the department has no way of knowing whether the increased reports could also be due to an actual increase in sexual violence.

Whitley also was pleased to see a rise in the number of confidential “restricted” reports. Instituted in 2005, this form allows victims to get medical care without triggering an investigation by the chain of command. These are typically made by victims who may not have made a report had the restricted reporting option not been available, Whitley said.

These also rose 11 percent, to 837 restricted reports.