WHY DOES SEXUAL ASSAULT CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN THE ARMY
Cpl Soto, Edgar
LC-10
Why does sexual assault continued to increase?
Sexual assault has not increased since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan war; in fact, they’re decreasing in numbers. The implementation of the SHARP Program training has been great for the Army. It may appear that numbers are increasing because service members are becoming more educated on the topic of SHARP. Program training has allowed them to report incidents without having to worry about retaliation from seniors, subordinates or their peers.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, about one in four Soldiers said they were sexually assaulted during the Iraq and Afghanistan war. (Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY Dec. 26, 2012). Sexual assault incidents are more likely to occur in those type of environment because Soldiers don’t have a safe heaven. During 2001 and 2004, Soldiers who have been in combat were two and a half more likely to be sexually assaulted (Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY Dec. 26, 2012).
SHARP training has given Soldiers the tools needed to know the basic steps of what may lead to an assault giving us the will to intervene and put a stop to what may occur. The statistics show that numbers are increasing every year, but we don’t how many victims haven’t report it. In 2016, 68% of military victims did not report sexually violent crimes, according to data from the annual Department of Defense report on sexual assault (Zachary Cohen, CNN February 7, 2018). So who is to say that sexual assault in the military is increasing seems like it is just getting more attention and people are becoming more open about reporting it.

References
Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY Dec. 26, 2012 VA finds sexual assaults more common in war zones
Zachary Cohen, CNN Wed February 7, 2018 From fellow soldier to ‘monster’ in uniform: #MeToo in the military