Reports suggest that US Navy sexual assault cases rise by 50%

New York, Sept 16: According to an American media report, the number of sexual assaults reported in the US

had risen in the last year.

According to the Navy, 1,100 cases of assault were reported in the year, ending this month as opposed to the 726 incidents reported last year. The growing rate of military sexual assault has drawn the attention of the congressional and the White House in recent times.

In the entire US military, an estimated 26,000 service members reported sexual assault in 2012, according to a US Department of Defense report released in May this year. The numbers were up from last year's 19,000.

In the recent years, the Navy has conducted a sexual assault education and prevention campaign to increase the awareness about the issue.

As a result the Navy anticipated a rise in the number of reported sexual assault incidents this year, to which the Navy's top sexual assault prevention and response officer said: "What we are trying to do is close the gap between annonymous surveys , where the sailors say that they have been assaulted in the past, to those sailors that actually vome forward to report.

US President Barack Obama reacted to this report in May saying that such a conduct was not acceptable, and that those found engaging in such issues would be held accountable.

OneIndia News