Sexual Misconduct Has Reached ‘Crisis’ Point at U.S. Military Academies, Lawmaker Says

The survey estimated 747 cadets and midshipmen experienced such contact or harassment during the 2017-18 academic year, compared to 507 two years earlier. Women were usually the victims.

Rates increased for men and women at the United States Military Academy and for women at the U.S. Air Force Academy, but stayed the same for men and women at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.

But witnesses at the hearing of the Military Personnel Subcommittee said issues exist at all three academies.

At the Naval Academy, for example, 32 percent of women don’t believe senior leadership is making a serious effort to alleviate the problem, said a witness, Col. Don Christensen, citing survey results. Christensen is president of Protect our Defenders, a national organization working to end sexual assaults in the military.

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