More U.S military personnel reported sexual assaults this year than in previous years.
Reuters said that reported cases of sexual assaults during 2014 increased by 8 percent, displaying higher confidence in reporting such crimes by victims. Another survey by a separate company called the Rand Corp had also shown that 1 out of 4 victims of the crime formally reported it this year in contrast to 1 in 10 victims two years ago.
In the official report made by the Department of Defense, the amount of active female military personnel who claimed to be victims of sex crimes was down almost 2 percent in the previous two years, according to CNN. Claims were over 6.1 percent in 2012, and decreased to 4.3 percent this year.
These results were released during a time where the Pentagon is taking a heavier stance on investigating military sex crimes since prolific assault acts were revealed over the previous years, Reuters reported. Because of this, sexual assault reports had a massive increase of 50 percent in 2013 due to victims’ confidence in the prosecution of their attackers.