ABSTRACT
A Freedom of Information Act request turned up Army records documenting cases from 1987 to 1991 of women soldiers raped while on active duty. The Army rate for 1990 wa s 129 rape cases per 100,000 women. The Army defends its record by saying that commanders are being told to increase education on sexual assault and to pursue rape cases aggressively. What’s more, and in a somewhat contradictory fashion, the Army claims that lack of consistent reporting measurements and differing demographics make comparisons between the Army and civilian rape rate unreliable. Critics of the Pentagon, not to mention of militarism in general, point out that rape is even more underreported in the military than in the country as a whole. The Army disputes the claim that they are run by sexist, vindictive power-mad men.
