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Sexual assault prevalence in the military during and beyond the Global War on Terror is likely two to four times higher than Department of Defense estimates, a new report found.<\/p>\n
There were more than 75,500 cases of sexual assault in the military in 2021, higher than the Pentagon\u2019s estimate of approximately 35,900 cases that year, according to the report<\/a> by the Costs of War Project at Brown University\u2019s Watson Institute.<\/p>\n Researchers also estimated more than 73,600 cases occurred in 2023, a significantly higher number than DOD\u2019s estimate of 29,000 that year.<\/p>\n On average, during the war in Afghanistan, 24% of active duty women and 1.9% of active duty men experienced sexual assault, the report stated, adding that racial minorities and LGBTQ+ service members also face greater risk of sexual assault.<\/p>\n The review of independent data noted that the range of cases being two to four times higher might actually be conservative, and that on the high end, estimates suggest the prevalence of sexual assault is 10 times higher than DOD\u2019s figures.<\/p>\n Military sexual assault totals down, but trust among women remains low<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDespite efforts to address sexual assault, the prioritization of force \u2018readiness\u2019 \u2014 the ability to train and deploy troops to Iraq and Afghanistan \u2014 above all else allowed the problem of sexual assault to fester,\u201d the report stated.<\/p>\n Over the last decade, the government has worked to combat sexual assault<\/a> through various task force recommendations, DOD initiatives and congressional legislation, including the passage of the \u201cI am Vanessa Guill\u00e9n Act,\u201d<\/a> which removes commanders\u2019 authority over sexual assault cases and hands it to independent prosecutors.<\/p>\n Data on sexual assault during the early period of the post-9\/11 wars is less reliable than in later years, the report noted, because the information was only systematically tracked after the establishment of the DOD Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.<\/p>\n Sexual assault prosecutions officially out of the chain of command<\/a><\/p>\n But independent reporting and data from other organizations that assist sexual assault survivors indicates a spike in such incidents following the invasion of Afghanistan, it added.<\/p>\n