A third of military women surveyed say they suffer sexual harassment

CAPITOL HILL (AP) — Two Pentagon reports out today show the number of sexual assault cases in the military on the decline, but suggest sexual harassment may be on the rise.

The report on sexual assaults says the number of cases reported among military personnel fell by 9 percent last year. That follows years of significant increases. Still, the a Pentagon spokesman characterizes the decrease as “minimal” and says it shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a trend.

Officials had attributed earlier increases in part to more aggressive efforts to get victims to come forward.

In a separate survey, one-third of military women said they had been sexually harassed, while 6 percent of men said they had been harassed. The figure for women was worse than the previous finding several years ago. Still, it was better than a similar survey conducted in 1995.

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