Inquiry Targets War-Zone Sex Assaults

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has ordered an investigation of sexual assault by troops against female colleagues in war zones as the Pentagon on Friday confirmed 88 allegations of sexual misconduct in the last year.

“Commanders at every level have a duty to take appropriate steps to prevent sexual assaults, protect victims and hold those who commit offenses accountable,” Rumsfeld wrote in a letter dated Thursday to David S.C. Chu, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. “Your review should address the reporting of sexual assaults, including the availability of private channels for reporting such issues within combat theaters.”

Rumsfeld said he was “concerned about recent reports regarding allegations of sexual assaults on service members deployed to Iraq and Kuwait,” and ordered the review to be completed within 90 days.

Although the figures reported by the Pentagon affect less than one-sixth of 1% of the women deployed to the war zones, previous studies have shown higher levels of sexual assault in the military than in the civilian world.

Eight percent of the women who served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War reported being sexually assaulted during their deployment -- 10 times the comparable civilian level at the time, according to a civilian survey published in 1998.

The inquiry highlights a persistent concern in the military, coming after reports of a series of sexual assaults at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and the Gulf War reports. Last year, dozens of current and former Air Force Academy cadets accused the academy of ignoring their reports of sexual assault and of sometimes punishing them for coming forward.

A Pentagon spokeswoman confirmed that over the last year, the Army has fielded 80 reports of sexual misconduct, a category that includes rape and sexual harassment, in war zones under the U. S. Central Command. The Air Force reported seven allegations over the same period and the Marine Corps reported one allegation of sexual assault, a narrower category than misconduct. The Navy reported no sexual assaults in the region over the last year.

Of the 80 Army sexual misconduct cases, only four are being treated as rapes, although that figure may increase as investigations continue, a defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Sexual assault is, simply stated, unacceptable within the Department of Defense. It will not be tolerated, and those responsible must be held accountable,” Chu said in an opinion article published in Friday editions of USA Today.

Members of the Congressional Women’s Caucus and Rep. Dennis Moore (D-Kan.) had called for an investigation after at least one victim reported being pressured by superior officers to drop charges against a fellow soldier.

In that case, which was confirmed by an aide to Moore, a 21-year-old Army military police officer accused a fellow Ft. Hood, Texas, soldier of rape during her deployment to Iraq. The woman said she remained in the Persian Gulf for eight months after the assault without counseling and was forced to return to Ft. Hood, where she has repeatedly encountered her alleged assailant. The suspect was charged with rape under the Uniform Code of Military Justice but was not detained in a military jail, a source with knowledge of the case said.

The incident was first described last month in the Denver Post, which also reported that at least 37 female service members had sought sexual trauma counseling from the Miles Foundation, a Connecticut-based rape crisis organization, after returning from duty in Iraq, Kuwait and other posts. Foundation spokeswoman Kate Summers confirmed that figure Friday.

Friday’s announcement underscored the difficulty of persuading assault victims to come forward; some surveys show three in four servicewomen did not report assaults to a ranking officer.

According to the Miles Foundation, recent estimates suggest that 4% to 9% of female service members, depending on their branch of service, report being sexually assaulted. A 1995 Department of Defense sexual harassment survey found that 5% of female respondents and 1% of male respondents reported rapes or attempted rapes.