Sexual Harassment Widespread at Naval Academy, Panel Reports

Sexual harassment of female students at the Naval Academy is widespread, and some victims don’t complain openly for fear of reprisal, according to an internal academy report released Tuesday.

“In such a climate it is not surprising that some midshipmen have lost the ability to distinguish a blatant incident of sexual harassment from routine pranks,” it said.

The report by a seven-member panel of academy faculty, military staff and midshipmen said immediate action is needed to correct the conditions allowing mistreatment of women.

“Most midshipmen readily acknowledge women midshipmen are not accepted as equals in the (academy),” said the report by the academy’s Women Midshipmen Study Group. “This lack of acceptance has created an environment in which steady, low-level sexual harassment passes as normal operating procedure in company areas and classrooms alike.”

The report was one of several special inquiries prompted by a hazing incident at the academy last December in which a female student was handcuffed by male midshipmen to a urinal as other men jeered and took photographs. The woman, Gwen M. Dreyer, a second-year student, resigned from the academy last May, citing her humiliation and anger at the way the academy responded to it.

The Navy on Tuesday released copies of the internal report as well as other studies that were reviewed by a special committee appointed by the academy’s Board of Visitors. The committee included Board Chairman James M. Cannon, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) and Rep. Helen Delich Bentley (R-Md.).

Mikulski issued a statement urging swift action to correct conditions at the Annapolis institution.

“There is a real and continuing problem at the U.S. Naval Academy,” she said. “Women are neither accepted as equals nor treated with respect. The Annapolis administration--from the top down--must act swiftly and decisively to end this harassment.

“This attitude is antiquated, unrealistic and unacceptable,” she said.