Several U.S. officials say reports of sexual assaults at military academies have spiked recently.
According to The Associated Press, the reports increased during the 2020-2021 school year as in-person classes resumed amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outlet noted numbers of reports dropped during the 2019-2020 school year when students were sent home to finish the semester.
Reported sexual assaults at the U.S. military academies increased sharply during the 2020-21 school year, as students returned to in-person classes during the coronavirus pandemic, according to several U.S. officials familiar with the reports. https://t.co/ZmdVVIklg4
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 17, 2022
The number of sexual assault reports in 2020-2021 was higher than in 2018-2019. Officials reported that the numbers were driven by a rise in reports at the Air Force Academy and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
In 2020-2021, cadets and midshipmen reported 131 assaults, an increase from 88 the previous year and 122 a year before that, as The Associated Press reported.
Fifty-two assaults were reported by cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Forty-six were reported at West Point in New York and 33 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth met with academy leaders, staff members, and cadets earlier this month to discuss the issue.
“West Point is working hard to increase cadets’ trust in their reporting system while at the same time preventing events from happening in the first place,” Wormuth said.
She explained West Point has added more resources for victims to “ensure the academy handles each case with care.”
Last month, President Joe Biden signed an executive order making sexual harassment an offense in the U.S. military’s judicial code.
Additionally, military commanders are required to forward sexual harassment complaints to independent investigators.
White House deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Biden believes “that this legislation takes groundbreaking steps to improve the response and … prevention of sexual assault in the military.”