{"id":1126,"date":"2019-02-01T21:59:04","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T02:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=1126"},"modified":"2019-02-01T21:59:11","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T02:59:11","slug":"unreported-sexual-assaults-surge-at-military-academies-pentagon-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=1126","title":{"rendered":"Unreported Sexual Assaults Surge at Military Academies, Pentagon Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2019\/02\/01\/us\/politics\/01dc-military\/merlin_150025638_ac112e26-e868-4685-80e6-0c8682643b5a-articleLarge.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Graduating cadets at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. Credit Mike Groll\/Associated Press<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/helene-cooper\">Helene Cooper<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Jan. 31, 2019<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>WASHINGTON\n \u2014 Sexual assaults at three American military academies rose sharply \nover the last two years, according to a Pentagon study released on \nThursday, an increase that defied efforts to address a problem that has \nlong plagued the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An \nanonymous Defense Department survey found that the number of unreported \nsexual assaults surged by nearly 50 percent \u2014 to 747 during the 2017-18 \nacademic year, compared with 507 in 2015-16. The Pentagon is required by\n Congress to conduct the survey every two years at the United States \nMilitary Academy at West Point, the United States Naval Academy and the \nUnited States Air Force Academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among\n reported cases of unwanted sexual contact, which runs the gamut from \ngroping to rape, the number rose only slightly. The study reported 117 \nepisodes during the 2017-18 academic year, up from 112 the year before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\n are disheartened that the strategies we have employed have not achieved\n the results we had intended,\u201d said Elizabeth Van Winkle, executive \ndirector of one of the Pentagon offices that looks into sexual assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\n report rekindles attention on a problem that has poisoned the military \nas more women join the armed services. The increase in sexual assaults, \nas reported by the service academies, is similar to what is happening in\n the military as a whole, and comes at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\n difference between the officially reported cases and the numbers that \nsurfaced as a result of the anonymous survey is an explicit \nacknowledgment that many young men and women who are assaulted at \nmilitary academies still remain silent about the crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite\n efforts by the academies to encourage students to report assaults, the \nstudy shows that the yearslong problem apparently is not going away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Defense\n Department officials blamed a culture at the academies of playing down \nsexual assault, which they said encouraged students to feel that they \nshould not report the violations. Former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis \nhad ordered academy leaders to focus on programs emphasizing responsible\n alcohol consumption and the reporting of sexual assault episodes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur\n cadets and midshipmen must be role models if they\u2019re to lead the \nworld\u2019s finest fighting force,\u201d James Stewart, who is performing the \nduties of under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, said \nin a statement. \u201cThis year\u2019s report demonstrates that there is more work\n to be done to meet this goal.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For\n the first time, the survey asked about alcohol use. It found that close\n to one-third of male students and 15 percent of female students said \nthey drank heavily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest report comes two years after the Marine Corps was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/06\/us\/inquiry-opens-into-how-30000-marines-shared-illicit-images-of-female-peers.html?module=inline\">rocked by disclosures<\/a>\n that an all-male, invitation-only group on Facebook called Marines \nUnited shared thousands of nude and other private photos of female \nMarines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The survey found that 16.5 \npercent of female cadets at West Point experienced unwanted sexual \ncontact in 2017-18, compared with 10.2 percent in 2015-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\n continued increase of the numbers, despite adverse publicity in recent \nyears, drew a sharp rebuke that the Pentagon was not taking the issue \nseriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Senator Kirsten \nGillibrand, Democrat of New York, said the unreported cases were \u201ca \nclear sign\u201d that sexual assault victims did not \u201cfeel confident in the \nmilitary\u2019s ability to adjudicate and prosecute these crimes without \nretaliation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe answer to this \nscourge can\u2019t be the same answer we get every year of \u2018give us more \ntime,\u2019\u201d Ms. Gillibrand, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said \nin a statement. \u201cWe must stand up for survivors and fight sexual assault\n in the military with everything that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sign Up for On Politics With Lisa Lerer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A\n spotlight on the people reshaping our politics. A conversation with \nvoters across the country. And a guiding hand through the endless news \ncycle, telling you what you really need to know.A version of this article appears in print on Feb. 1, 2019, on Page A21 of the New York edition with the headline: More Assaults Unreported On Campuses Of Academies. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytreprints.com\/\">Order Reprints<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/pages\/todayspaper\/index.html\">Today\u2019s Paper<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/subscriptions\/Multiproduct\/lp8HYKU.html?campaignId=48JQY\">Subscribe<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Graduating cadets at the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. Credit Mike Groll\/Associated Press By Helene Cooper Jan. 31, 2019 WASHINGTON \u2014 Sexual&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-the-family"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8VBh7-ia","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":672,"url":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=672","url_meta":{"origin":1126,"position":0},"title":"Assaults Increased When Cities Hosted Trump Rallies, Study Finds","author":"Donnie","date":"March 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By\u00a0NIRAJ CHOKSHI\u00a0MARCH 16, 2018 \u00a0 \u00a0President Trump at a 2016 campaign rally in Charleston, W.Va. 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On Friday she rescinded Obama-era guidelines on campus sexual assault investigations.\u00a0CreditTom Brenner\/The New York Times Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday scrapped a key part of government policy on campus sexual assault, saying she\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;National Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"National Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-11_10-39-28.jpg?fit=714%2C464&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-11_10-39-28.jpg?fit=714%2C464&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-11_10-39-28.jpg?fit=714%2C464&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-11_10-39-28.jpg?fit=714%2C464&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":696,"url":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=696","url_meta":{"origin":1126,"position":3},"title":"Fox News Contributor Quits, Calls Network a \u2018Propaganda Machine\u2019","author":"Donnie","date":"March 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By\u00a0Kirsten Chuba CREDIT: YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT Lt. 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As first reported by\u00a0Buzzfeed News, Peters chose not to renew his contract after serving as a contributor for more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Domestic Terrorism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Domestic Terrorism","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-21_11-32-43.jpg?fit=786%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-21_11-32-43.jpg?fit=786%2C439&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-21_11-32-43.jpg?fit=786%2C439&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/2018-03-21_11-32-43.jpg?fit=786%2C439&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1121,"url":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=1121","url_meta":{"origin":1126,"position":4},"title":"Fact-Checking President Trump\u2019s Interview With The New York Times","author":"Donnie","date":"February 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In the wide-ranging interview, the president made numerous inaccurate or misleading statements about trade, the military and border security, among other topics. In an interview with The New York Times, President Trump indicated that he would most likely take action on a border wall on his own after talks with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;National Politics&quot;","block_context":{"text":"National Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/2019-02-01_21-37-02.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/2019-02-01_21-37-02.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/2019-02-01_21-37-02.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.gopplaybook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/2019-02-01_21-37-02.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":363,"url":"https:\/\/www.gopplaybook.com\/?p=363","url_meta":{"origin":1126,"position":5},"title":"Putin threatens US arms race with new missiles declaration","author":"Donnie","date":"March 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"President says Russia has new line of nuclear-capable weapons that can breach US defences Andrew Roth\u00a0in Moscow Thu 1 Mar 2018\u00a007.14\u00a0ESTFirst published on Thu 1 Mar 2018\u00a006.10\u00a0EST\u00a0 \u00a0Vladimir Putin is seeking a fourth term as president in elections this month. 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