Sexual assault rate in US military 2 to 4 times higher than government estimates, study finds

The number of sexual assaults in the US military is probably two to four times higher than government estimates, according to a new study from Brown University.

The study, completed by the Costs of War Project at Brown University’s Watson Institute, compared Department of Defense sexual assault data with non-DOD data to estimate military sexual assault numbers since 2001.

“During and after the 20 years of post-9/11 wars, independent data suggest that the actual prevalence of sexual assault is two to four times higher than DoD estimates—75,569 cases in 2021 and 73,695 cases in 2023” , the authors wrote in the report, which was published on Wednesday.

Defense Department figures estimate there were about 35,900 cases in 2021 and about 29,000 service members attacked in 2023, the study said.

The Brown report said independent studies show higher estimates of the number of active-duty service members who experience sexual assault, and compared those studies to Defense Department numbers.

“This report highlights a middle range — two to four times higher than DoD estimates — as likely to provide the most accurate numbers,” it said.

A spokesman for the Department of Defense said it “would be inappropriate to comment on the methodology of studies not conducted by the Department.”

“The department continues our sustained progress to build strong command and control climates to prevent sexual assaults, help survivors of sexual assault with recovery and hold alleged offenders accountable,” the spokesperson added. “Sexual violence will not be condoned, tolerated or ignored in our ranks. Everything we do in this space is focused on helping us make lasting and meaningful change.”

Among those named in the report is Vanessa Guillén, a soldier at Fort Hood (now Fort Cavazos), Texas, who reported sexual harassment at the base and who officials say was later killed by another soldier, Spc. Aaron Robinson.

Guillén’s killing in April 2020 sparked calls for military reform, and in 2022 Congress passed the “I Am Vanessa Guillén Act” which changed the way the military handles sexual abuse investigations and allegations.

Another Fort Hood soldier, Elder Fernandes, committed suicide in 2020 after facing what the military said was “abusive sexual contact.”

The Costs of War Project report comes a year after a Pentagon report found that reports of sexual assault at the nation’s three military academies rose more than 18 percent from 2021 to 2022, hitting a new high.

A 2021 Congressional Research Service report said there is some evidence that most sex crimes in the military go unreported.

The I Am Vanessa Guillén Act took military commanders out of the equation when it comes to sexual assault investigations and puts the investigation in the hands of independent prosecutors.

The Costs of War Project report calls this change “the biggest change to the UCMJ since the military created its own legal system in 1950,” referring to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The report criticizes the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, as putting the long-standing problem of sexual assault, racism and other discrimination ahead of force training.

“In the Secretary of the Army’s own words, going to war prevented the military from institutionally addressing the shameful long-standing epidemic of sexual assault,” the authors wrote.