1 of 2 | Midshipmen arrive for the Naval Academy Graduation and Commissioning Ceremony at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. (2024). The Department of Defense on Monday released its 2023-2024 report on sexual harassment and violence at U.S. military academies, which indicated incidents were down but steady in key categories. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
The Department of Defense on Monday released its 2023-2024 report on sexual harassment and violence at U.S. military academies, which indicated incidents were down but steady in key categories.
“The decrease in harmful behaviors measured by the academy survey disrupts an upward trend that had persisted for the past decade,” Dr. Nate Galbreath, director of DoD’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, stated in a release. Advertisement
The annual Military Service Academies report for the 2023-2024 program year found in its survey that roughly 457 academy women and 327 academy men experienced “some form of unwanted sexual contact,” according to officials.
But, they added, it’s evidence in a “decrease in the prevalence of sexual assault” compared to 2022.
A report released in September 2022 suggested that reports of sexual assault spiked 13% the year prior, which represented the highest prevalence of sexual assault against women, and the second highest against men since the recording of such crimes began nearly 20 years ago.
However, while the estimated rate of sexual harassment incidents went down for military personnel in this new survey, its rate of reporting “stayed about the same” with about 13% of midshipmen and cadets reporting sexual assault incidents. Advertisement
There were 8,515 sexual assault reports in the military at service academies in 2023, compared to 8,924 reports in 2022.
The annual report, which is required by Congress, looks at the effectiveness of policies, training and procedures of the MSAs regarding sexual assault and harassment involving academy personnel at the United States Military Academy, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy.
“Enforcing standards is critical to enhancing unit cohesion and overall readiness,” added Dr. Timothy Hoyt, acting director of the Office of Force Resiliency.
In 2022, then-President Joe Biden signed an executive order that made sexual harassment an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Meanwhile, Hoyt says that given how active duty members reported sexual assaults at nearly twice the rate of cadets and midshipmen, “more work needs to be done,” he said Monday, “to ensure our cadets and midshipmen see reporting as a pathway to recovery and restoring trust in our military.”
