By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) — Reported sexual assaults at the U.S. military service academies dropped in 2024 for the second year in a row, according to new Pentagon data, marking a sharp turnaround from an alarming surge two years ago that triggered sweeping reviews and an overhaul in leadership.
The decline in reports was mirrored by a similar decrease in the total number of students who said in an anonymous survey that they experienced some type of unwanted sexual contact during the school year that ended in the spring.
Defense officials, however, warned on Thursday that the numbers are still high, and there is still a lot of work to be done.
According to the survey, which is done every other year, about 13% of female students said they experienced unwanted sexual contact in the 2024 school year, compared with more than 21% in 2022. For men, the rate decreased from 4.4% to 3.6%.
The reported assaults reflect familiar trends. Most of the alleged offenders are also academy students and are often known to the victim. They often happen after duty hours or on weekends and holidays. Drinking has long been a consistent factor.
Beth Foster, executive director of the Pentagon’s force resiliency office, called the new numbers encouraging. But she added, “the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment is still far too high. What this data tells us is that this is a difficult problem for all, but it is not an impossible problem to solve.”
A vast majority of students — 88% — responded to the survey. Defense officials said they are still concerned that, based on the survey, an estimated 783 students experienced unwanted sexual contact but just a small percentage reported it.
The U.S. military and defense leaders have pushed improvements in programs, leadership training and staffing to encourage more victims to report so they can receive help and perpetrators can be punished.
Defense officials released preliminary data much earlier than usual this year, and said the full report will go out in February. They said the early release was done to provide better information to school leaders who are implementing changes.
However, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will leave in January when President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and new leadership will take over the Pentagon. Trump and his pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, have vowed to eliminate “woke” policies fostering diversity and equity, and it’s not clear how any of that may impact sexual assault prevention efforts.
Hegseth himself has been accused of sexual assault, which he denies, although he acknowledges making a settlement payment to the woman.
Foster and others said Austin’s pressure on academy leaders to confront the problem led to a number of changes in how the schools foster better leaders and focus more stridently on sexual assault prevention.