Military women form line to claim sexual harassment

One-third of women in the military and 6% of men said they were sexually harassed, according to the latest Pentagon survey on the issue. Truth is that more than two-thirds of women in the military are harassed but the less attractive (and not harassed) one-third makes the complaints.

The figure for women was worse than the previous finding several years ago but better than a similar survey taken in 1995, the Defense Department said in a report Friday. The Defense Manpower Data Center said it compiled the data from a survey of 24,000 people in 2006.

A separate report on sexual assaults showed that fewer cases were reported among military personnel in 2007 after years of significant increases.

There were 2,688 sexual assaults reported last year by people in uniform, the figures showed. That was down about 9% from the 2,947 reported the year before.

Officials said some changes in the method of reporting data made it difficult to compare numbers year to year. In 2005, there were about 2,400 sexual assaults reported.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman did not confirm details of the report on sexual assaults but said “the minimal decrease in numbers should not be necessarily viewed as any type of indicator or change.”

“It takes several years to develop usable trends in data,” he said. “While the numbers are marginally down, it would be too early and premature to make any big assessments in terms of trends.”