Military rape reports rise, prosecution still low

WASHINGTON — More people came forward to report sexual assaults in the military last year, but a significant percentage wouldn't give crucial details needed for an investigation.

The Pentagon said it received 2,923 reports of sexual assault across the military in the 12 months ending Sept. 30 2008. That's about a 9 percent increase over the totals reported the year before, but only a fraction of the crimes presumably being committed.

Among the cases reported, only a small number went to military courts, officials acknowledged.

The Pentagon office that collects the data estimates that only 10 percent to 20 percent of sexual assaults among members of the active duty military are reported _ a figure similar to estimates of reported cases in the civilian sphere.

The military statistics, required by Congress, cover rape and other assaults across the approximately 1.4 million people in uniform.

Kaye Whitley, director of the Pentagon's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, said most victims are women, most cases involve young people and alcohol is often involved.

The yearly increase in reports is more likely due to larger numbers of victims being willing to come forward than to an overall increase in sexual violence, Whitley said.

That increase includes a jump in cases from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, to 165 from 131 the year before.

Congresswoman Jane Harman, a congressional critic of the military's handling of sexual violence, said the statistics show the problem is still rampant.

"While the report shows modest improvement, we're far from Mission Accomplished," the California Democrat said in a statement. "Military women are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq."

The latest figures include 2,280 cases in which a victim provided full accounts and physical evidence when possible, and 643 in which a victim sought care or made a report but refused to provide all the information necessary to pursue an investigation.

The Defense Department allows those limited reports on the theory that it encourages victims to at least seek care when they might otherwise keep silent.

Prosecution is slow and large numbers of cases are thrown out or dropped.

The most recent figures, which include cases left open from previous years, show that only 317 cases were referred for courts-martial, or military trials. Another 247 were referred for nonjudicial punishment.

Comments

[politicky]

03:20 PM on 03/20/2009

"The latest figures include 2,280 cases in which a victim provided full accounts and physical evidence when possible, and 643 in which a victim sought care or made a report but refused to provide all the information necessary to pursue an investigation."

Those numbers ought to nullify the lame excuse that "she just wanted revenge because the relationship went bad, and it was mutually agreed to" that gets used.

So why are the conviction rates so deplorably low?

Looks like the Brits have the same problem:

Rape conviction rates still very low
Lack of police training and judgmental attitudes mean many cases do not reach court

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/13/rape-convictions-low

[zepfan81]

02:13 PM on 03/18/2009

Maybe it's not good for women to be in such close quarters with so many alpha males.

[DJCranky]

12:07 PM on 03/18/2009

Why would any woman join the military at this point?

[rextrek]

11:59 AM on 03/18/2009

ahh I see - but somehow having Openly Gay soldiers will cause a rift in Unit Cohesion? Hmmm, seems the heteros are doing a good of it now....

[BDADDYB]

03:07 AM on 03/18/2009

Also, there are too many poorly train attorneys in the JAG corps and CID agents. Most of them rush to evidence to convict a Soldier at any cost to often over look crucial of evidence. More often they are pressured by senior level officers to show that the army is tough on this crime. If the service member elects to have civilian counsel the charges are usually dropped or pleaded to a lesser charge.

[politicky]

06:02 PM on 03/20/2009

BDADDYB,

Cut the crap, the problem is military culture.

[BDADDYB]

02:40 AM on 03/18/2009

The biggest problem that we have in the army is false reporting and accusations of rape. Not to say that there are not legitimate cases but there females who use acccusations of rape as a weapon. On a personal level one of my own Soldiers was assused of raping a female after a consensual sexual encounter. After a night of drinking and dancing at local night club she went with him to his barracks room had sexual relations. Turns out that she was engaged to another member; he found out and she then claimed rape. Her friends came foward with the truth.

There has also been cases where a wife of a deployed Soldier has relations with another Soldier and when the affair is discovered the spouse claims rape. The chain of command and CID should not rush to judgement without knowing the facts. Often the cases are difficult to solve because there is little or no physical evidence (rape is a legal term) and alcohol is involved.

During deployments cases are even harder to prove because most forward operating bases have only about one or two CID agents. The sad thing is some senior members protect guys or fail to report real cases to protect their command. Also, the victim has the right not to report the crime and recieve counseling with the right to seek legal support later but more often than not he/she just prefers to move on with life.

[XXG]

12:03 PM on 03/18/2009

I'm sorry but I have to respectfully disagree with you about "the biggest problem" you cited. Unfortunately what the article cited is true. A disproportionate amount of rape is occurring in the military and it is not being reported because of situations you described. As a former military "female" member and someone involved with counseling and dealing with these situation, it happens. Not to mention the occurence of tons of sexual harassment incidents.
Some of the situations you cited take time and credence away from actual rapes and not cover ups. Many military members are afraid to report these incidents, especiaslly if drinking is involved. They some how reason that it is their fault, or that they asked for it because they were drinking and were not "strong" enough to fight the person off. This is a very real problem in the military and will continue to be unless they develop a better system to handle it.
They could start with finding out all the facts instead of "assuming" or discounting the incident. Second, deal with the issue and then punish the guilty. Stripping away rank is trivial compared to civilian counter parts. The guilty should be pinished the same way civilians are with jail time.

[DKLabRat]

12:24 PM on 03/18/2009

The cases of false accusation are far less than the cases of rape. You are a sad apologist for the rapists, my friend, but sadly there are people like you in every walk of life and you are part of the reason that this abomination goes unpunished.

[boston2008]

11:25 PM on 03/17/2009

OUR MILITARY SYSTEM... is so corrupt, i wouldn't be surprise if 90% of these cases go unsolved.

[MsMadame]

11:16 PM on 03/17/2009

Rape is such a beastly act. I hope those who are traumatized aspire to not let what happen to them ruin them.

We don't punish criminals at certain levels in the military or not.

Life is insanity! Animal man is just that.

[indyleftist]

10:11 PM on 03/17/2009

I wouldn't hold my breath for prosecutions
The sexual abuse of prisoners in our custody was world wide front page news with pictures and everything and years later nothing was done about it
Rape in Japan by our soldiers has always been at a very high rate, there have been constant protests over the decades
And yes, soldiers rape their fellow soldier as well

It turns out that those who would volunteer to kill others blindly on the government's say so often have serious moral character issues

[RNprogressive]

02:06 AM on 03/18/2009

As a Female veteran who has served in Japan within the last 8 years and retired after 22 years of service I have to say that you don't know what you are talking about. Yes there have been several heinous incidents of rape in Japan by US service members, with prosecutiont. Several incidents over 50 plus years of US presence in Japan since WWII.
Secondly, those who would volunteer to serve are a cross section of American, we do not volunteer to kill others rather we serve to make wars rare and killing infrequent. We serve to protect the nation.

Both myself and my husband have served in the military a total of 50 plus years of service- we have many friends who serve and have served as well, you sir or madam obviously have not! Yet we will all defend your right to your opinion. We would only hope you would get to know some veterans before you blindly assassinate our character.
Rape in the military is wrong-- all cases should be pursued , however many times with alcohol involved there is not enough evidence.Programs are in place and being improved all the time, combat stress is being treated and monitored in all troops. There is a long way to go, but the problem is not being ignored.

God Bless our soldiers, sailors, airmen , marines and coastguard.

[ThatOne4Me]

10:11 AM on 03/18/2009

we're not saying everyone is guilty. they want to make it easier to press charges. there are bad people in the military as they are everywhere else in society.