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CNN Live Today
Is Rate of Sexual Assault Rising in Military?
Aired February 26, 2004 - 11:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Senators are looking into a possible increase in the rate of sexual assaults in the U.S. military.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since the U.S. went to war in Iraq, 88 American troops have reported they've been victims of sexual assault while deployed in the war zone.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Our women soldiers sometimes have more to fear from their fellow soldiers than from the enemy.
MCINTYRE: Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered a review of how victims are treated, and Congress wants answers, as well.
SEN. WAYNE ALLARD (R-CO), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Many of the victims' stories were heart wrenching and appalling. In some cases, I was utterly speechless and outraged.
MCINTYRE: Victims' complaints include poor medical care, little or no counseling, and in some cases, having to work side by side with the accused attacker.
Pentagon officials acknowledge that more needs to be done for victims, but commanders bristled at the suggestion they don't take sexual assault cases seriously.
GEN. MICHAEL MOSELEY, AIR FORCE VICE CHIEF OF STAFF: For the notion that people get a free pass or that things are winked at or swept under the rug, is outrageous.
MCINTYRE: The Pentagon also released a new study, disputing the perception that rape is on the rise in the military.
DAVID CHU, UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PERSONNEL AND READINESS: The incidence of sexual assault in the military is down from 1995. Approximately cut in half from the level that prevailed seven years earlier.
MCINTYRE: In 1995, six percent of the troops surveyed by the Pentagon said they'd been a victim of rape or a tempted rape. By 2002, the rate dropped to just three percent.
But rape is an underreported crime. And victims' rights advocates say the numbers don't tell the whole story.
CHRISTINE HANSEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE MILES FOUNDATION: So often we find that the victims may actually go underground for fear of what reprisals or retribution or, more specifically, the fear of adverse career impact and the impact to their security clearances that may occur when they do report a sexual assault in-theater.
MCINTYRE (on camera): The Pentagon admits it doesn't have enough data to determine if deployed troops are any more likely to be victims of sexual assault, but it says it will review all policies with an eye toward doing more to prosecute sexual abusers and protect their victims.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 26, 2004 - 11:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, ANCHOR: Senators are looking into a possible increase in the rate of sexual assaults in the U.S. military.
Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since the U.S. went to war in Iraq, 88 American troops have reported they've been victims of sexual assault while deployed in the war zone.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Our women soldiers sometimes have more to fear from their fellow soldiers than from the enemy.
MCINTYRE: Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld ordered a review of how victims are treated, and Congress wants answers, as well.
SEN. WAYNE ALLARD (R-CO), SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Many of the victims' stories were heart wrenching and appalling. In some cases, I was utterly speechless and outraged.
MCINTYRE: Victims' complaints include poor medical care, little or no counseling, and in some cases, having to work side by side with the accused attacker.
Pentagon officials acknowledge that more needs to be done for victims, but commanders bristled at the suggestion they don't take sexual assault cases seriously.
GEN. MICHAEL MOSELEY, AIR FORCE VICE CHIEF OF STAFF: For the notion that people get a free pass or that things are winked at or swept under the rug, is outrageous.
MCINTYRE: The Pentagon also released a new study, disputing the perception that rape is on the rise in the military.
DAVID CHU, UNDERSECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR PERSONNEL AND READINESS: The incidence of sexual assault in the military is down from 1995. Approximately cut in half from the level that prevailed seven years earlier.
MCINTYRE: In 1995, six percent of the troops surveyed by the Pentagon said they'd been a victim of rape or a tempted rape. By 2002, the rate dropped to just three percent.
But rape is an underreported crime. And victims' rights advocates say the numbers don't tell the whole story.
CHRISTINE HANSEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE MILES FOUNDATION: So often we find that the victims may actually go underground for fear of what reprisals or retribution or, more specifically, the fear of adverse career impact and the impact to their security clearances that may occur when they do report a sexual assault in-theater.
MCINTYRE (on camera): The Pentagon admits it doesn't have enough data to determine if deployed troops are any more likely to be victims of sexual assault, but it says it will review all policies with an eye toward doing more to prosecute sexual abusers and protect their victims.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
