THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004
Rising sexual attacks stun US army
WASHINGTON : The US military faces the gravest accusations of sexual misconduct in years, with dozens of servicewomen in the Persian Gulf area and elsewhere saying they were sexually assaulted or raped by fellow troops, lawmakers and victims' advocates said on Wednesday.
There have been 112 reports of sexual misconduct over roughly the past 18 months in the Central Command area of operations, including Iraq , Kuwait and Afghanistan , military officials said. The Army reported 86 incidents, Navy 12, Air Force 8 and Marine Corps 6.
Military officials said bulk of the charges were being investigated and some had already resulted in disciplinary actions, but could not provide specifics. They said a few reports turned out to be unfounded.
In addition, about 24 women at Sheppard Air Force Base, a large training facility in Texas , have reported to a local rape-crisis center that they were assaulted in 2002. The Air Force Academy in Colorado is still reeling from the disclosure last year of more than 50 reported assaults or rapes over the last decade.
The latest accusations are the most extensive charges since the Navy's Tailhook incident in 1991 and the Army's drill sergeant scandal five years later.
Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld has ordered an inquiry into reported sexual assaults in Iraq and Kuwait.
The issue came to a boil at a hearing on Capitol Hill, where senators questioned the Pentagon's top personnel on lapses in the military's ability to protect women from sexual assaults, provide medical care and counseling to victims of attacks and to punish violators.
(NYT News Service)
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