Pentagon issues report on sexual harrassment

The Pentagon released a report Thursday that showed there were nearly 1,400 reported incidents of sexual harassment in 2013. 

Although the Pentagon has issued yearly reports on sexual assault and unwanted sexual contact, the report on harassment resulted from a request in the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. 

“The Department of Defense is committed to eliminating incidents of sexual harassment from our ranks and from our workplace,” said the report. 

{mosads}The report said a 2012 survey showed that of the sexual assaults that took place that year, nearly 30 percent of women and 19 percent of men reported that their offenders sexually had harassed them before and/or after the incident took place. 

“This finding is reflected in similar DoD surveys and implies a direct connection between sexual harassment and sexual assault, both of which are unacceptable across DoD and incongruent with the values we are committed to upholding,” the report said. 

Defense officials said at a Thursday background briefing that although the numbers in the report are low, they establish a baseline, Stars and Stripes reported. 

Most of the complainants were junior enlisted female members, and offenders were male officers in their units in more than half the cases.