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2021 was a big year for the U.S. military, with more sexual assaults reported than the year previous—and the biggest spike since 2006. New Pentagon findings show that the U.S. Armed Forces continue to struggle with managing sexual assault and violence in its ranks.

The Pentagon report identifies ongoing problems

The Pentagon’s and Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report found a 13% increase in sexual assault in 2021 compared to previous years. Over the course of 2021, 8.4% of active-duty women across all branches of the military reported experiencing unwanted sexual contact. The number of men reporting sexual assault also doubled, reaching 15%. The highest rate of sexual assault was seen in the Marine Corps, where rates increased by a whopping 10.7%.

U.S. representatives, like Jakie Speier (co-chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus) are alarmed by the new findings and plan to organize hearings in the coming weeks ahead to explore answers and solutions. “The watchful eye of Congress is needed to ensure that military leadership is held to account, and any additional changes deemed necessary to address this national embarrassment and crisis are made,” Speier said in a Pentagon statement.

New legislation is a step in the right direction

In a step forward last year, President Joe Biden signed a new executive order making sexual harassment a formal offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Also late last year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) went through a serious round of updates and overhauls. New changes take decision-making on cases of rape and sexual assault out of the hands of internal military commanders. 

Despite the positive momentum—the new legislation just isn’t enough. Many lawmakers and activists agree that the system is grossly damaged, and trust has been broken.

But, trust has been broken

A testament to falling levels of trust, the DoD study found that less than 40% of female service members say they trust the military to treat them with respect and dignity. And 60% of female service members don’t trust that the military would protect them after reporting a sexual assault.

“These numbers are tragic and extremely disappointing,” says Elizabeth Foster, executive director of the Pentagon’s Office of Force Resiliency, told reporters. “On an individual level, it is devastating to conceptualize that these numbers mean that over 35,000 service members’ lives and careers were irrevocably changed by these crimes,” she adds. “Every incident has a ripple effect across the unit and impacts unit cohesion, ability to trust and distracts from the critical mission at hand.”

The new legislation includes a package of efforts aimed to prevent harmful behaviors from happening, and building a stronger culture of respect with service members. The establishment of independent Offices of Special Trial Counsel to prosecute sexual assault and related offenses, a sexual assault response task force, and putting in place systems to enforce survivor recovery are all key.

“Across the entire Department of Defense, we are building enduring cultural change on an unprecedented scale,” says Mr. Gilbert R. Cisneros Jr, Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. “We are incorporating accountability and transparency into our response process while establishing a professionalized prevention workforce to reduce harmful behaviors and promote the well-being of our Service members.”  

Navy spokesperson Lt. Alyson Hands adds. “We can and must do better to stop sexual assault and sexual harassment behaviors before they begin.” 

We need to build a stronger culture of change

I hope these efforts can all work together to combat the negative culture so prevalent in today’s military and work to repair and rebuild the trust that has been broken. My hope is that these new legislative efforts and continued reporting on the issues we need to mend can help our country’s leaders reduce and eliminate unwanted and nonconsensual sexual contact, assault, and harassment across all Military Departments.

To read more about the Fiscal Year 2021 Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military and a fact sheet with the topline results, please visit SAPR.mil. Be sure to bookmark this site for ongoing news, stories, and insights advocating for stronger rights and justice for survivors of military and domestic assault and abuse. Have a question or story to tell? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly.