Army Sexual Assaults Increase 26 Percent, Navy Also Sees Big Rise in Cases

The U.S. military saw a striking increase in the number of sexual assaults reported by service members last year, with the Army and Navy accounting for most of the rise.

Nearly 36,000 service members disclosed in a confidential survey that they had been subjected to unwanted sexual contact, the Associated Press (AP) reported Wednesday, citing unnamed officials. The new numbers show a 13 percent jump from the previous year and an increase from the more than 20,000 service members who reported sexual assault in 2018. The survey's results point to ongoing challenges despite efforts by Congress and the Pentagon to address sexual assault and misconduct.

Behind the increase is a 26 percent jump in Army soldiers who indicated to the survey they had been sexually assaulted, officials told AP. The rise is the biggest for the service branch since 2013, when reported sexual assaults increased by 51 percent.

The Navy was also a driver, seeing a 9 percent increase, the news outlet reported. The Air Force saw an increase slightly above 2 percent and less than 2 percent for the Marine Corps.

Officials told AP that the survey, which will be released Thursday, found that about 8 percent of all women and 1.5 percent of men in the armed services had experienced unwanted sexual contact in some form.

"Our work to eliminate sexual assault reflects our continuing commitment to advance a culture of trust, respect, and inclusion within the force," Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Nicole Schwegman told Newsweek in an email. "Nothing will deter our efforts to encourage greater reporting and to stop sexual assault before it occurs."

The new numbers are a sizable increase from previous years, which suggested the military was improving its response to sexual assault. For 2019, 6,236 service members reported sexual assault, a 3 percent increase from the previous year.

Reports plummeted in 2020 amid COVID-19 restrictions. The latest survey comes as restrictions have largely been lifted and are the latest sign the U.S. military continues to struggle to get sexual assaults under control despite heightened attention by policymakers and the public.

In response to the murder of Specialist Vanessa Guillén, who was killed at Texas' Fort Hood in April 2020, the Army last year disciplined 21 officers and noncommissioned officers, including firing eight senior commanders. The Army also opened the People First Center at Fort Hood in response to the murder of Guillén, whose family reported she had been harassed leading up to her death.

President Joe Biden earlier this year signed an executive order making sexual harassment a criminal offense in the military's judicial code. A year earlier, Biden approved over two dozen measures from an independent panel intended to reduce sexual assault in the military.