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One in Five Women and One in Twenty Men In The Air Force Victims Of Sexual Assault

03/18/11-by Bridgette P. LaVictoire
It is a horrifying statistic- one in every five women in the Air Force and one in every twenty men are victims of sexual assault or rape while in the service. The numbers, released by the Christian Science Monitor, also note that almost sixty percent of women had been raped, and twenty percent had been forcibly sodomized. Almost half of the victims did not report the crimes “because they ‘did not want to cause trouble in their unit.’” a press release from Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) stated.

Anu Bhagwati, the executive director of SWAN stated “It should be no surprise that rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment are an every day fact of life for women in the Air Force, and every any other branch of the military.” Bhagwati is a former Marine Captain. She also stated:

“Despite having more women than any other branch of service, it’s clear that the Air Force, like the rest of the military, is in over its head when it comes to reducing this threat to our servicemembers. Survivors don’t feel safe enough to report their attacks, and frankly, there’s little reason for them to feel safe in today’s military climate. Senior military leadership has failed to protect survivors, punish perpetrators or hold commanders accountable for failing to enforce sexual assault policy. Immediate legislative action by our elected officials is the best tool we have to stop this crisis now.”

The Department of Defense’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office also released its FY 2010 “Annual Report on Sexual Assault in the Military, and it revealed that there had been 3158 reports of sexual assault in the entire military, and that number is probably an under reporting of the numbers.

As an organization, SWAN is dedicated to eradicating rape and sexual assault in the military.

Reports of sexual assaults among men are probably vastly under reported due to the shame and stigma that follows such an incident, largely due to the fact that some men might be worried about the perception that they are gay. The lifting of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell might allow for some men to come forward more easily than they have in the past.