USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – The follow-up survey to a devastating report on sexual assaults at the military academies two years ago was short circuited by the COVID-19 pandemic, Pentagon officials said Thursday.
Military officials had planned to conduct in-person surveys at the academies in the spring of 2020 but the pandemic had forced cadets and midshipmen from their campuses to remote learning, Nathan Galbreath, deputy director of the Pentagon s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, told reporters.
The Pentagon will wait until April 2022 to conduct the next in-person survey at the academies, the elite, taxpayer-funded institutions with an enrollment of about 12,000 future military officers.
Coronavirus causes drop in sexual assault reports at military academies go.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from go.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
To be housed in a centrally located, but calm, private space on the third floor of Old Johnson Hall, the VARCC will provide one place for support and services to students. It will have a soft opening in mid-March with a more formal and celebratory opening in early April in commemoration of Sexual Assault Prevention month.
A major benefit of the VARCC is that it will be a single place for students and anyone who wishes to report an incident of sexual violence. “It will be a colocation of services,” said Johann Fiore-Conte, associate vice president for student affairs and chief health and wellness officer. “We know it’s traumatic for students who wish to report to have to repeat their story to multiple offices and we are hoping that with better coordination of services, we can improve that.
Experiencing Sexual Assault Doubles Odds That Troops Will Leave Military, Report Finds
The teal ribbon is a national symbol of support for victims of sexual assault. (U.S Air Force/illustration/Staff Sgt. Don Hudson)
11 Feb 2021
U.S. military personnel who have experienced sexual assault are twice as likely to leave the military within 28 months of an attack, according to a new Rand Corp. report. Sexual assault and sexual harassment are associated with a wide range of harms to individual service members, but this study highlights another negative impact of these crimes higher rates of attrition and associated harms to force readiness, Andrew Morral, senior behavioral scientist at the nonprofit think tank and lead author of the report, said in a Rand news release on Tuesday.