The military recorded only 3,374 sexual assault reports last year, up from 3,192 in 2011, suggesting that many sexual assault victims continue not to report the crimes for fear of retribution or a lack of justice under the department’s system for prosecuting them.

The study, based on anonymous surveys, was released two days after an officer in charge of sexual assault prevention programs for the Air Force was arrested in Arlington, Va., and charged with sexual battery. The officer's arrest drew a strong condemnation from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Tuesday.

“If the man in charge for the Air Force in preventing sexual assault was alleged to commit sexual assault this weekend,” Ms. Gillibrand said, then perhaps military officials were not capable of investigating and prosecuting the crimes. Ms. Gillibrand, who nearly yelled as she addressed Michael B. Donley, the secretary of the Air Force, said that the continued pattern of sexual assault of women — and to a far lesser degree of men — was “undermining the credibility of the greatest military force in the world.”

At the same hearing, Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, the Air Force chief of staff, told the committee that he was “appalled” by the conduct and the arrest.
Ms. Gillibrand is seeking to have all sex offenders in the military discharged from service, and she would like to replace the current system of adjudicating sexual assault by taking it outside a victim’s chain of command. She is particularly focused on decisions, including one made recently by an Air Force general, to reverse guilty verdicts in sexual assault cases with little explanation.

Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat who is also on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is holding up the nomination of Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms to be vice commander of the Air Force’s Space Command. Ms. McCaskill said she wanted additional information about General Helms’s decision to overturn a jury conviction in a sexual assault case last year.
Ms. McCaskill was also critical of the military’s current policies for policing and adjudicating sexual assault.

“This is a discussion I had with Secretary Panetta; he had begun the process of moving this forward,” Mr. Obama said, adding, “But I have directly spoken to Secretary Hagel already today, and indicated to him that we’re going to have to not just step up our game, we have to exponentially step up our game to go at this thing hard.” The president was referring to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his predecessor, Leon E. Panetta.
“For those who are in uniform, who’ve experienced sexual assault,” Mr. Obama said, “I want them to hear directly from their commander in chief that I’ve got their backs, I will support them and we’re not going to tolerate this stuff, and there will be accountability.”

看来军队里性骚扰很严重啊。不知道其他国家军队里书不是这样？我以前就是GM战士，但那个时候我很傻很天真，用MAO思想武装着自己的精神世界，什么都不没做。
美国网友评论：
S. Ram Houston, TX
As a resident, I worked in the womens' health clinic at large VA hospital in the not so distant past. I was appalled- APPALLED- at the number of women (>80%) who have been sexually assualted or harrassed in the armed forces. The psychologic wounds that these brave women carry are scars they will bare for life. Its not just the physical trauma that these women have but the feelings of helplessness an abadonment by an institution that does nothing to protect our female soldiers. It is a sad statement that female soldiers are safer on the streets of Baghdad than they are on an army base.
What I find further revolting is the barage of comments I have seen on blogs about the treatment of women in places like India, Africa and other parts of the developing world. Rape, assault and devaluing women take place EVERYDAY in the US and we have even gone so far as to institutionalize it in the military. The "boys will be boys" attitute has to stop from Congress to every military office before we sit an critisize others for not caring about women. We have alot of work to do at home.

Terry Brady New Jersey
What? Are you crazy? 26,000 people sexually assaulted?
This military have been lamblasted with adulation and praise from all quarters: "thanks to our men and women in uniform": "Our soldiers, our freedom". Evidently they are behaving as mercenary fighters and maybe it is time to return to conscription when dope smoking within the ranks produced peacefully benign humans beings instead of professionalized, dangerous armies. Dangerous to their eniminies and to their colleagues: brothers and sisters in arms.

女人总是受害者。。。这个万恶的男人世界！
好吧，我对我的女人好点吧。

那谁。。。小丫头，这些主流英文报纸的文章，是为你贴的，你不要偷懒，要看啊！