Sexual assault is a huge threat to women in US military. We have a duty to do better.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available through RAINN at the National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-HOPE (4673) or online at rainn.org

Lauren King dreamed for years of serving her nation in the Air Force.

But as an ROTC member, King was sexually assaulted by a male cadet while visiting the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after the assault, King decided not to attend the academy, despite being accepted into the elite school.

“I had this dream to be in the military. … I felt like I couldn’t work toward those goals because of what I was dealing with,” King told me. “These things still impact me today: Being afraid of guys or being afraid to get close to people, (and) seeing the worst in people.”

Despite forgoing the dream of serving her country, King courageously chose to fight and spent much of her time as a college student involved in the criminal case against her assailant. She said she willingly sacrificed the time and money needed to travel five times from Tennessee to Colorado Springs because of a strong sense duty to protect other women from her assailant.

And in December 2021, Air Force Academy cadet Justin Zimmerman was convicted of sexual assault, sexual abuse of a child and providing alcohol to a minor. Zimmerman was sentenced to six years in a military prison and dishonorably discharged from the Air Force.

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From a distance, it appeared the matter was favorably resolved. Yet Zimmerman's case, like far too many others involving sexual assault in the U.S. military, left his victims deeply traumatized and further tarnished the image of our nation's defense forces.

In March, the Department of Defense released survey results showing that 21.4% of female students and 4.4% of male students at West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy said they had been the victims of unwanted sexual contact in the past school year.

Service members say they don't trust the military to protect them

Asked whether they trust the military system to protect their privacy and treat them with "dignity and respect" after reporting sexual assault or harassment, only 59% of women and 76% of male students expressed confidence in the system.

The problem isn't limited to the nation's military academies, of course. In September, the Defense Department reported that more than 8% of female service members suffered unwanted sexual contact in 2021, the highest rate ever reported. Men reported the second-highest rate of sexual assault (1.5%) since the survey was launched in 2004.

Sexual assault and harassment impose tremendous costs to the military and, as a result, the nation. Victims often decide to end their military careers early or, like King, never join in the first place.

A 2014 study by the RAND Corporation estimates “that sexual assaults were associated with 2,000 more separations than would normally be expected, and another 8,000 separations were associated with sexual harassment.” The report also found that exposure to a sexual assault doubles the chances that a service member leaves the military within 28 months.

At the same time, the military is struggling to meet recruitment numbers. Recruitment and retention are so challenging that the Army is opening pre-boot camp training programs designed to get recruits in good enough academic and physical shape to pass basic military standards.

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Sadly, as a result of sexual violence in the armed forces, the American public is acutely aware that the military might not be a safe place for women. In its 2021 annual report on sexual assault in the military, the Department of Defense conceded that reality: “While cultural change of this magnitude takes time, the Department is building accountability and transparency into the process to ensure this change is enduring.”

The “cultural change” referred to is a culture of sexual assault. That's a sobering admission.

The Pentagon in recent years has made more resources available for victims and required more training to prevent sexual misconduct. But much more needs to be done.

Many perpetrators of sexual assault escape punishment

It's important to acknowledge that, unlike Zimmerman, most perpetrators are never punished. The Defense Department estimates in 2021 that almost 36,000 service members were the victims of sexual assault. But fewer than 9,000 cases were officially reported and fewer than 2,700 led to disciplinary action of any kind.

And the Military Times reported that in previous years, only about 250 reports of sexual assault resulted in a court martial and conviction.

How can the United States possibly continue to compete on the global stage if women perceive the military to have a culture of sexual assault?

Military Times journalist Meghann Myers has reported that less than 17% of the military is made up of women, and that women are 28% more likely to leave the military before retirement than men. Sexual assault is one of the main factors behind both statistics.

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Military service obviously carries high risks, but adding legitimate concerns about sexual assault to the equation makes it even less likely women will sign up.

“I feel like there is a high barrier to entry for women in the military simply because of the fear that something bad is going to happen to them,” King said. “Women have so much to offer when it comes to leadership, to decision-making … and to any career in the military. … The military needs women to be as strong as it can possibly be.”

Sexual assault is an enormous problem – but a solvable one

What can the Pentagon do to further deter sexual misconduct?

One idea is to hold commanding officers more accountable for misconduct in their ranks. In the civilian world, sexual misconduct at private companies can lead to costly lawsuits and severely damage a business' brand. So executives have strong incentives to take reports of harassment or assault seriously.

In the military, although there are few mechanisms for civil penalties against commanders or units, individual officers can be fined in certain instances, such as a fuel spill, where negligence or recklessness is shown.

It follows logically then that stronger penalties for leadership could lead to a better focus on sexual misconduct from the top levels by increasing accountability, ownership and prioritization.

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Another important shift is to squash any tolerance of sexual harassment. A "harmless" joke can have much larger ramifications than perhaps intended.

In 2016, the Department of Veterans Affairs surveyed recent veterans about their experiences with sexual assault and harassment in the military. A staggering 41.1% of women veterans said they experienced sexual harassment, and that number could be even higher in reality given that harassment is often underreported.

Research indicates that harassment can lead to sexual assault. Behavioral scientists Andrew Morral and Terry Schell of the RAND Corporation found in 2021 that “sexual harassment against service women and men is strongly associated with risk of sexual assault.”

Another essential step is to add civilian oversight of the military justice process, ensuring that a victim's commanding officers are not a part of the disciplinary process. That step was one of the major recommendations issued in 2021 by the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military.

Sexual harassment and assault are enormous but solvable problems facing the military and by extension the nation. For survivors like Lauren King – and for the sake of no less than our security as a nation – we must do better.

Benjamin R. Bryce is an ensign in the U.S. Navy.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Sexual assault in military hurts all who serve. They deserve better