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Lawmakers push service academies about spike in sexual assaults on campus

A survey by the Pentagon found unwelcome sexual contacts at military academies were up nearly 50 percent between 2016 and 2018.

WASHINGTON — The estimated number of incidents of sexual assault at the three service academies is up, according to a Pentagon-backed anonymous survey of the schools' more than 19-thousand midshipmen and cadets.

The 2018 survey found that 747 students indicated they had experienced unwanted sexual contact within the last year, a nearly 50 percent increase from 507 students in 2016.

"This report is a scathing indictment of the academies' culture," said Rep. Jackie Speier (D-California) "It's time for us to recognize this as a crisis and I intend to watch it like a hawk."

 According to the report, 50 percent of women and 16 percent of men said they experienced sexual harassment in the last year.

"This should be a wake-up call for academy leadership," said Don Christensen of Protect Our Defenders. "The failure to weed out perpetrators means that hundreds of sex offenders are commissioned onto the active force every year. That should be very sobering."

The schools' leaders agreed.

"These acts erode trust, are contrary to the Army's core values and impact military readiness," said United States Military Academy Superintendent LG Darryl Williams.

"While we've made some productive improvements, we must do better," said United States Naval Academy Superintendent VADM Ted Carter.

"These results of the recent survey are disgusting," said United States Air Force Academy Superintendent LG Jay Silveria. "They do not reflect the standards we hold ourselves to as leaders."

Today in Washington, the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee held a hearing to learn about the academies' action plans to address the findings.

 Among those actions: promoting responsible alcohol choices and healthy relationships, enhancing a culture of respect and improving sexual assault and harassment reporting.

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