Sexual assaults in the armed services declined by 2 percent during the 12-month period between Oct. 1, 2009, and Sept. 30, 2010, over the prior yearlong-period, according to the Defense Department’s annual report on sexual assault in the military. The 3,158 reports of sexual assaults involving military members during the period, which encompasses fiscal year 2010, indicates a slight rise in reports during the past three years. The rise in reports “shows that more victims are coming forward to report sexual assault” since the department began to intensify efforts to mitigate the longstanding problem, the report’s authors wrote in its executive summary. The full report is available online at http://www.sapr.mil.
