Washington, D.C.
Air Force servicemen on bases in the Pacific were accused of at least 92 rapes from 2001 to 2003, according to a new study by the service. Gen. William Begert, Air Force commander in the region, ordered the review after a string of recent reports of sexual abuse in the military. Out of 106 men named in the 92 cases, 14 were tried by court-martial, and seven of them were convicted. Forty were demoted or otherwise punished. Victims, most of them U.S. servicewomen, have accused the military of ignoring the problem, or even punishing them for reporting the crimes. Begert ordered several reforms, including greater assistance for victims. “We’ve got to take this on,” he said.
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