A Defense Department report being released this week estimates that the number of troops who are sexually assaulted has risen dramatically since 2010. In 2010, the Pentagon estimated that 19,300 service members were victimized by sexual assault, in 2012 the number was thought to be 26,000 service members.
The reason that the numbers in the report are estimates is that the Pentagon believes that a large number of service members who experience sexual assault never come forward to complain, according to USA Today.
According to the Huffington Post, Senator Carl Levin, D-Mich., said that the report estimates that roughly 70 cases of sexual assault involving service members occur each day.
The Pentagon report is coming out immediately after the arrest of Lt. Col. Jeffery Krusinski for sexual battery. Krusinski was the head of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. The Air Force reacted to the news swiftly and dismissed Krusinski from his office on Monday.
"If these allegations are true, this is one more example on a long list of how fundamentally broken the military justice system and culture are," Nancy Parrish said. Parrish is the founder of Protect our Defenders, a human rights group that advocates for military members who have been sexually assaulted. Sen. Levin echoed Parrish's sentiments when speaking with Air Force officials.
"While under our legal system everyone is innocent until proven guilty," Levin said. "This arrest speaks volumes about the status and effectiveness of the (Defense) department's efforts to address the plague of sexual assaults in the military."
In a statement from Pentagon press secretary George Little said that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel "Expressed outrage and disgust over the troubling allegations and emphasized that this matter will be dealt with swiftly and decisively."
When speaking about the Pentagon report Sec. Hagel was just as blunt about how the issue needs to be dealt with.
"Sexual assault is a crime that is incompatible with military service and has no place in this department," Hagel said. "It is an affront to the American values that we defend, and it is a stain on our honor. The Department of Defense needs to be a national leader in combating sexual assault and we will establish an environment of dignity and respect, where sexual assault is not tolerated, condoned or ignored."
