US military reports increase in sexual assaults

WASHINGTON - The United States military in 2004 received 1700 reports of sexual assaults in which a member of the armed forces was either the victim or perpetrator, marking a sizable increase over previous years, the Pentagon said today.

The Pentagon said 1012 sexual assaults were reported involving US military personnel in 2003 and 901 in 2002.

But army Lt Colonel Joe Richard, a Pentagon spokesman, said defence department officials do not believe the 2004 figures, contained in a report mandated by Congress, represented an increase in the actual number of sexual assaults committed.

Richard said the figures instead reflected a greater willingness of military personnel to report such attacks. Richard added that the 2003 and 2002 figures reflected only incidents in which both the alleged attacker and victim were military personnel, while the 2004 numbers included incidents in which civilians were involved.

"We are not alarmed about what appears on the surface to be a very substantial increase," Richard said, noting the Pentagon had taken a series of steps to encourage victims to come forward in what historically has been an under-reported crime.

Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered a sweeping review of US military sexual assault policy last year after a spate of assaults against female US troops in Iraq and Kuwait by their male US troops, and a scandal at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The 1700 reports in 2004 included 1275 incidents that involved a service member as an alleged victim, and 1305 incidents that involved a service member as an alleged offender, the Pentagon said. The Pentagon defined sexual assault as rape, non-consensual sodomy, indecent assault or any attempt to commit those offences.

The report did not give a breakdown of victims by gender, but Richard said the vast majority were women.

During 2004, there were 1.5 million active-duty troops and members of National Guard and Reserve mobilised into service.

By the end of 2004, law enforcement authorities had completed investigations into 1232 of the 1700 alleged assaults, the Pentagon said.

Military commanders punished 393 offenders, and 340 people were awaiting final disposition of their cases as of the end of 2004, the report stated. Action was not taken against 351 accused offenders because allegations were found to be unfounded or unsubstantiated, there was a lack of evidence or accusers recanted their statements, the Pentagon said.

There was no punishment in 278 cases because of problems in identifying the attacker, the Pentagon said.

A policy going into effect this year allows victims of sexual assaults within the military to come forward for treatment without immediately triggering an investigation. The move was intended to remove an important barrier to reporting sexual assaults, the Pentagon said.

A Pentagon task force last year found the department was doing too little to help sexual assault victims and punish attackers.

Some servicewomen have accused the military of failing to launch criminal investigations into sexual assaults and failing to provide proper medical attention and counselling. Some also have said male superiors retaliated against them after they identified a male soldier as their attacker.

Policy changes announced by the Pentagon in January included setting a uniform definition of what constitutes sexual assault, expanding victim care and support programmes, and mandating education programmes starting in basic training aimed at preventing assaults.

Richard said Pentagon officials expect the number of sexual assaults reported in 2005 and in coming years to increase as service members becoming increasingly willing to report these crimes.

- REUTERS