DOD Service Academies

In an update of an earlier study that reported widespread sexual harassment of women at the nation's military academies, GAO found that a majority of female recruits in academic year 1993-94 continued to experience sexual harassment. The most common forms of harassment included demeaning remarks and visual displays, such as posters or graffiti. However, between 36 and 42 percent of the women at each academy reported unwelcome physical contact of a sexual nature, including fondling and kissing. Academy men perceived an improved atmosphere for reporting sexual harassment, with significant declines in the percentages seeing negative consequences for reporting sexual harassment. The responses of academy women, however, showed no such change in perceived consequences.

GAO found that: (1) more than 70 percent of academy women reported experiencing at least one form of sexual harassment on at least a monthly basis, while about 11 percent of men reported such exposure; (2) the proportion of women at the Naval and Air Force Academies who reported sexual harassment on a recurring basis significantly increased from the 1990-1991 academic year; (3) the most common forms of sexual harassment were verbal comments and visual displays; (4) although men perceived an improvement in the atmosphere and less negative consequences for reporting sexual harassment, women did not perceive an improvement; (5) between 36 and 42 percent of the women were subjected at least once during the year to physical behavior that interfered with their performance or created a hostile environment; and (6) 11 to 22 percent of the women reported sexual advances that were tied to some aspect of their academy careers.