Washington (AP) According to recent Pentagon data, reported sexual assaults at the U.S. military service academies fell in 2024 for the second consecutive year. This represents a dramatic change from an alarming spike two years prior that led to extensive evaluations and a leadership change.
The overall number of students who reported experiencing any form of unwanted sexual contact during the spring-ending school year decreased in tandem with the reduction in reports, according to an anonymous study.
However, defense officials cautioned Thursday that there is still more work to be done and that the numbers are still high.
About 13% of female students reported having unwanted sexual contact in the 2024 academic year, down from over 21% in 2022, according to the poll, which is conducted every other year. The rate dropped from 4.4% to 3.6% for men.
The assaults that have been reported follow well-known patterns. The victim frequently knows the majority of the accused criminals, who are also academy students. They frequently take place on weekends, vacations, or after work hours. Drinking has always been a contributing element.
The latest figures are encouraging, according to Beth Foster, executive director of the Pentagon’s force resiliency office. However, she said, sexual harassment and assault are still much too common. This data indicates that while it is a challenging issue for everyone, it is not insurmountable.
Eighty-eight percent of pupils answered the poll. According to the poll, 783 students were believed to have had inappropriate sexual contact, but only a small number of them reported it, which continues to worry defense officials.
To encourage more victims to come forward so they may get assistance and offenders can be held accountable, U.S. military and defense leaders have advocated for changes to programs, leadership development, and staffing.
The full report will be revealed in February, according to defense officials, who disclosed preliminary data far earlier than normal this year. According to them, the early distribution was carried out to give school administrators who are putting changes into place more information.
However, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will leave in January when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and new leadership will take over the Pentagon. Trump and hispick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, havevowed to eliminate woke policiesfostering diversity and equity, and it s not clear how any of that may impact sexual assault prevention efforts.
Although he admits to paying the woman a settlement, Hegseth himself has been accused of sexual assault, which he denies.
Foster and others said Austin s pressure on academy leaders to confront the problem led to a number of changes in how the schools foster better leaders and focus more stridently on sexual assault prevention.
The total number of reported sexual assaults at the academies is divided in an often complex and confusing way. Academy and defense officials focus on the number of assaults reported by cadets and midshipmen during their school year. But students sometimes file reports after they leave the academies, describing incidents that happened when they were in school.
The total is 106 for the 2024 school year, a sharp drop from 137 last year and 170 in 2022. The totals also decreased at each individual academy.
Students at the U.S. Naval Academy reported 47 assaults, a slight dip from 49 the previous year. The other two saw significant decreases: Students at the Air Force Academy in Colorado reported 34, compared with 45 last year, and those at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York reported 25, compared with 43.
In addition, eight students reported assaults last year that happened to them before they became students.
The military services and the academies have struggled for years to combat sexual assault and harassment, with myriad prevention, education and treatment programs. But despite reams of research, and expanded programs, the numbers have grown.
A renewed emphasis on it in the past several years has led to improvements and staff increases, although service members still complain that the videos and other programs are often outdated and don t resonate as well with young troops.
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