One woman in seven suffers sexual assault in US military academies

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2005

WASHINGTON (AFP) — One woman in seven in US military academies becomes the victim of sexual assault, one in every two suffering harrassment during training, according to a new Defense Ministry report.

The survey, the first of its scope, related to the period 1999-2004, and was taken early 2004 in three top US military academies. Media attention has forced the Defense Ministry to adopt a new strategy to protect individuals in the armed forces.

Of more than 1,900 women questioned, 262 admitted they had been subjected to sexual assault of some kind. More than 50 percent said they had been the victims of sexual harrassment, including jokes, inappropriate gestures, or promises of better treatment in exchange for sexual favors.

Very few of those women who said...