Pentagon report finds sexual assaults in the military spiked in 2018

The estimated number of sexual assaults in the U.S. military rose almost 38 percent in 2018 compared with the last time service members were surveyed in 2016, according to a report released by the Defense Department on Thursday.

The anonymous survey has been administered every two years since 2004, and based on the responses received, the military estimates that 20,500 service members — 13,000 women and 7,500 men — experienced a form of assault last year. In 2016, it was estimated that 14,900 service members experienced some type of sexual assault.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.