The DAF made it easier last year for victims to come forward, by establishing policies that grant them convalescent leave and make it harder for unscrupulous supervisors along the chain of command to retaliate or otherwise impede military careers. Image: Robert Adrian Hillman/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffSexual-assault reports by airmen and guardians increased dramatically last year, the Department of the Air Force announced.
“Reports increased by 13 percent in fiscal year 2022 [Oct. 1, 2021-Sept. 20, 2022], the highest recorded value in the history of the Department of the Air Force SAPR [Sexual Assault and Prevention Response program],” Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall wrote in a memorandum to Pentagon leadership.
The Department of the Air Force’s figure is significantly higher than those reported by the other armed services. According to DoD’s annual report on sexual assault in the military for 2022, such reports increased overall by one percent. Kendall conveyed the statistics as a good news-bad news situation.
“These increases in reporting demonstrate that while survivors are more willing to come forward, too many incidents are still occurring. This is unacceptable,” Kendall wrote.
The Pentagon report indicated that for every 1,000 airmen and guardians, 5.4 people reported an incident. The figure represents a 4.6-percent increase from the previous fiscal year, and a 2.9-percent rise from 10 years ago.
Throughout the Defense Department, most victims – some 79 percent – were women. Eighty percent of the investigation subjects during the same time frame were male.
Out of the 1,928 2021 reports, 864 were classified as restricted at the victims’ requests. The recently established classification allows for these victims to receive confidential care and services for the trauma they endured.
The DAF made it easier last year for victims to come forward, by establishing policies that grant them convalescent leave and make it harder for unscrupulous supervisors along the chain of command to retaliate or otherwise impede military careers. A movement also is afoot among victims’ advocates to have such cases turned over to independent investigators, rather than military commanders. A move toward more non-judicial punishment is already in place.
“That change was largely due to the perception that when a military commander makes these prosecution decisions, that they are not expert attorneys in these cases,” Dr. Nate Galbreath, deputy director of the Sexual Assault and Prevention Response Office, recently told reporters.
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