25 Military
The Invisible War
Casualties of war rage beyond the battlefield. As ranks of women in the American military swell, so do incidents of rape. An estimated 30 percent of servicewomen and at least 1 percent of servicemen are sexually assaulted during their enlistment, not by the enemy, but at the hands of fellow soldiers. With stark clarity and escalating revelations, The Invisible War exposes a rape epidemic in the armed forces, investigating the institutions that perpetuate it as well as its profound personal and social consequences.
Tanner King Barklow, Amy Ziering, Independent Television Service, Rise Films, Chain Camera Pictures, Fork Films, . . . Canal+ (Producers), & Dick, K. (Director). (2012). The Invisible War. [Video/DVD] Ro*Co Films. Retrieved from https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/the-invisible-war
FACTS ON UNITED STATES MILITARY SEXUAL VIOLENCE
Statistics from the 2016 – 2021 DoD SAPRO Reports and their appendices/annexes, unless otherwise noted.
https://www.sapr.mil/reports Updated September 2022
Sexual Violence Remains Pervasive
- In FY21, close to 36,000 service members experienced sexual violence including 19,000 women and 16,600 men. The rate of wrongful sexual contact jumped by almost 35% from FY18 to FY21.
- In FY21, nearly 9,000 reports of sexual assault involving service members were received, a 13% increase from reports made in FY20.
Vast Majority of Cases Go Un-Reported
- In FY21, only about 1 in 5 service members reported their sexual assault to a Department authority.
Retaliation Is the Norm
- 67% of women who reported a sexual assault were retaliated against after coming forward.
- 64% of retaliation reports alleged that retaliators were in the reporter’s chain of command.
- A third of women who reported a sexual assault were discharged within a year of reporting, typically within 7 months.i
- 24% of these women received a less than fully honorable conditions discharge.ii
Little Trust and Satisfaction in System
- 66% of women believe the military will not protect their privacy, 60% of women believe the military will not ensure their safety, and 61% of women believe the military will not treat them with dignity and respect if sexually assaulted.
- For both men and women, one of the top two responses for why they did not report was thinking no action would be taken.
- 47% of women cited worrying about potential negative consequences from co-workers as a reason for not reporting.
- 48% of survivors reported dissatisfaction with the support they received from military-assigned Special Victims Counsel/Victims Legal Counsel.
Low Conviction and Prosecution Rates
- Despite a continual increase in unrestricted sexual assault reports since 2015, convictions have plummeted in the same timeframe.
- In FY 2021, of the 6,356 unrestricted reports of sexual assault, only 372 (6.0%) cases were tried by court martial, and just 176 (2.8%) offenders were convicted of a nonconsensual sex offense.
High Demand for VA Care
- Approximately 38% of female and 4% of male military personnel and veterans have experienced MST.iii
- 40% of women homeless veterans have faced MST.iv Veterans with an MST history are over twice as likely to experience homelessness.
Sexual Harassment is Alarmingly High
- 7% of active duty men and 29% of active duty women were sexually harassed in FY21.
- About 40% of women who experienced sexual harassment were also sexually assaulted.
- DoD concluded that “sexual harassment is a leading factor affecting the unit climate on sexual assault.”·
- 24% of women and 19% of men identified at least one alleged offender as someone in their chain of command.
- 1,732 formal sexual harassment complaints were made in FY21, a 75% increase from FY20.
Good Order and Discipline at Risk
- If a unit has a climate of sexual harassment, then a woman has a 1 in 4 chance of experiencing unwanted sexual contact.
- More than 1 in 4 survivors of either sexual assault or sexual harassment/discrimination took steps to leave the military as a result.
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Definitions: Sexual assault in the survey corresponds to crimes defined by Uniform Code of Justice (UCMJ) Article 120 (rape & sexual assault) and Article 80 (attempts). Sexual harassment is defined in federal law and military regulations and includes a pervasive and severe sexually hostile work environment that interferes with the ability to do one’s job and/or sexual quid pro quo. Gender discrimination, also defined in law and regulations, refers to gender-based mistreatment that results in harm to one’s career.
i Department of Defense (DoD) Inspector General, Evaluation of the Separation of Service Members Who Made a Report of Sexual Assault (2016), https://media.defense.gov/2016/May/09/2001714241/-1/- 1/1/DODIG-2016-088.pdf.
ii DoD IG report; Veterans Legal Clinic, Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, Underserved: How the VA Wrongfully Excludes Veterans with Bad Paper (2016), https://www.vetsprobono.org/library/item.655363- Underserved_How_the_VA_Wrongfully_Excludes_Veterans_with_Bad_Paper.
iii L Wilson, “The Prevalence of Military Sexual Trauma: A Meta-Analysis,” Trauma, Violence, & Abuse (2016).
iv J Pavao, JA Turchik, JK Hyun, et al., “Military Sexual Trauma Among Homeless Veterans,” Journal of General Internal Medicine 28 Suppl 2 (2013).
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