Half of females attending U.S. military service academies targeted by sexual harassment

A Pentagon report released Thursday revealed a disturbing trend in U.S. military service academies, where sexual harassment and unwanted sexual contact are on the rise despite calls to stamp down the behavior.

The Annual Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service Academies examined sexual assault and harassment for the 2017-2018 school year in the U.S. Military Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy, the three major U.S. military service academies.

It found that 50 percent of the 3,200 female students attending the three major U.S. military service academies said they have experienced sexual harassment, while 16 percent said they have experienced unwanted sexual contact. The numbers for the 9,700 male students are 16 percent and 2 percent, respectively.

Statistics indicated that sexual assault and harassment have become worse in all three academies. Most alarming were the numbers for the U.S. Military Academy, where 16.5 percent of female cadets reported unwanted sexual contact, a 62-percent jump from the 2016 numbers. The rate more than doubled for male cadets in the previous two years, spiking to 3.4 percent.

The report concluded that the result of this year's survey proved that "sexual assault and sexual harassment are insidious, persistent challenges that do not remit easily," and that the result does "not reflect the high level of investment in policies and programs to prevent sexual assault and other forms of misconduct."

"This year's report demonstrates that there is more work to be done," said James Stewart, acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness.