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Sex assault reporting options at academies unclear

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Some students at military academies fear retaliation if they report sexual assaults and others don’t understand the reporting options created to give them confidentiality, according to a Defense Department report released Friday.

There were 40 reports of sexual assault from June 1, 2006, to May 31 at three academies: the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Among those assaults, 20 cadets and midshipmen used a new confidential reporting option that was enacted across the Defense Department in 2005-2006, the report found. The option allows victims to choose to obtain medical, mental health care and other services without becoming involved in the criminal justice process.

But the report found that less than half of the U.S. Naval Academy’s midshipmen understand the difference between the new confidential reporting and another option, which allows victims to make an unrestricted report through the chain of command, duty officers and law enforcement.

The academy needs to emphasize how students can report incidents, the report said.

At the Air Force Academy, the report found some victims are concerned about retaliation if they report sexual harassment.

“The perception remains among some personnel that victims hesitate to report being sexually assaulted due to a concern that they will experience retaliation by their command in the form of punishment for collateral misconduct,” the report stated.

Meanwhile, some focus group participants at West Point “expressed concern that some women could use the reporting system to avoid being punished for consensual sex in the dormitories,” the report said.

The Pentagon described the report as the first assessment to combine an evaluation of the academies’ new sexual assault prevention and response programs, an evaluation of sexual harassment programs and feedback from cadet and midshipmen focus groups.

Cadets and midshipmen said they felt safe on academy grounds and believed that sexual assault occurred infrequently at their schools, the report found.

The country’s military academies have faced more scrutiny since 2003, when women at the Air Force Academy in Colorado alleged that they had been sexually assaulted by fellow cadets over the previous decade and were either ignored or ostracized by commanders when they came forward.

Sexual assault allegations have also surfaced since then at the Naval and Coast Guard academies.