The incidence of sexual assault in the military is terrible and indeed steps need to be taken to reduce sexual assault both inside and outside the military. However, we believe that women should be allowed to serve, and we admire the women who have done so. One would hope that the increase in sexual privacy infrastructure such as accommodations more similar to those at colleges will help to counter these problems. We can also work to change this by providing more liberally educated soldiers, that have been exposed to programs such as Columbia's, into the military.
From a methodological point of view, comparing sexual assault by soldiers to sexual assault in the general population is problematic since sexual assault is more likely to be committed by young males, the demographic that predominates in the military. A proper comparison would be adjusted for gender and age. We are in the process of trying to locate such data.
Analysis and photo by Columbia Students for
NROTC.