Sexual assaults reported across the military dropped by nearly 4% last year, marking an overall decrease for the second year in a row as the Pentagon works to reverse a troubling trend that saw an increase of incidents in three service branches, according to a report released Thursday, May 1, 2025. (Jaimee Freeman/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON — Sexual assaults reported across the military dropped by nearly 4% last year, marking an overall decrease for the second year in a row as the Pentagon works to reverse a troubling trend that saw an increase of incidents in three service branches, according to a report released Thursday.
There were 8,195 reported sexual assaults in 2024 involving members of the military, compared with 8,515 in 2023. Of the total, 6,973 service members reported sexual assault during their military service and another 512 reported an assault that happened before they entered the military. The figure also includes 641 civilians who said they were assaulted by a member of the military.
This report does not include a sexual assault prevalence rate. The Defense Department conducts the Workplace Experiences Survey of Military Members, a biennial confidential survey, to get a clearer understanding of the problem. The next survey will be conducted in the fourth quarter of the fiscal 2025.
“We encourage greater reporting of sexual assault to connect victims with care and, also, to have the opportunity to hold offenders appropriately accountable,” Nathan Galbreath, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office, told reporters Thursday.
The overall decrease was due to a 13% drop in reported sexual assaults across the Army, according to the report.
Three other services saw increases. The Navy had the largest jump of 4.4%, while the Air Force had a 2 increase and the Marine Corps rose by less than 1%.
“It’s important to note that sexual assaults are not always reported in the same [fiscal year] they occur, although the majority are,” the Air Force said in the report.
The Pentagon has worked for years to drive down the rates of sexual assaults and harassment within its ranks, a scourge that has long drawn the ire of Congress. Top Pentagon officials have also conceded it likely has a negative impact on military recruiting.
The Pentagon has implemented efforts in recent years to address the problem after former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin commissioned an independent review of the Pentagon’s sexual assault prevention efforts in 2021.
It has invested heavily in implementing dozens of findings from that commission, nearly doubling its sexual assault prevention budget to more than $1 billion in 2023 and 2024. The Pentagon has used that funding to stand up new offices to prosecute sexual assault cases outside of the traditional military chain of command and establish a professionalized prevention workforce.
To date, the Defense Department has hired about 1,400 trained prevention specialists to serve at bases around the globe, said Andra Tharp, director of the Office of Command Climate and Well-Being Integration. The department intends to employ about 2,500 prevention specialists in the next several years.
The process for hiring has been impacted as President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s government efficiency team seek to purge personnel and cut agency budgets across the federal government.
Tharp said when the hiring freeze went into effect, there were about 300 positions posted on USAJOBS, the federal government’s employment website, essentially put on hold. However, some military services, such as the Air Force, have been able to get exemptions to “continue moving forward.”
“In the meantime, we’re using this time to ensure ... that we have the right people, the right talent in the right place, and we’re creating contingency plans just to ensure that we don’t kind of lose ground while we’re making these adjustments,” she added.
While reported assaults decreased, the number of sexual harassment complaints went from 2,980 in 2023 to 3,014 last year. Most were filed by female service members and most of those accused were men.
The latest report also reflects the first full year since new prosecution procedures have been in place, putting independent lawyers in charge of those decisions and sidelining commanders after years of pressure from lawmakers.
Under a plan approved by Congress, certain sexual harassment cases under the Uniform Code of Military Justice — the military’s set of laws — will be investigated and prosecuted by the new Offices of Special Trial Counsel in each service branch.
The Defense Department issued a statement in December confirming the special trial counsels of the Army, Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps will take over Article 134 sexual harassment cases.
Article 134 is the military’s “general article” covering “all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces, all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, and crimes and offenses not capital, of which persons subject to this chapter may be guilty, shall be taken cognizance of by a general, special, or summary court-martial,” according to the U.S. Manual of Courts-Martial.
It is too soon to tell what kind of impact the special trial counsel is making, which will take about three years to see whether there are changes to military justice, Galbreath said.
Sufficient evidence existed to take disciplinary action in 66% of cases investigated for sexual assault under Defense Department jurisdiction in fiscal 2024, according to the report. The report also noted 74% of sexual assault court-martial cases ended in a conviction, a 2% increase from 2023.
