Military sexual assault totals down, but trust among women remains low
By Leo Shane III
Thursday, May 16, 2024
Less then half of women surveyed by the Defense Department said they trust the institution to properly handle sexual assault cases. (Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
A Pentagon report released Thursday found that less than half of women in the military trust their chain of command to properly handle reports of sexual assault, posing a continued problem for service leaders even as the number of assault cases fell significantly last year.
But Defense Department officials insist they see positive signs regarding recent reforms designed to bolster trust in leadership and curb assaults, and remain optimistic that additional steps will produce further improvements.
“A lot of those changes are underway, but we know it’s going to take some time before we start to see those numbers,” Beth Foster, executive director of the Defense Department’s Office of Force Resiliency, told reporters Thursday. “We know we have a lot more work to do to rebuild trust, especially amongst our service women.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2024/05/16/military-sexual-assault-totals-down-but-trust-among-women-remains-low/
