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GAO Report: Preliminary Observations on DOD's and the Coast Guard's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Programs (July 31, 2008)
Category: Sexual Harassment/Assault/Trauma
In the GAO-08-1013T report, GAO staff stated: 'They found, based on responses to its nongeneralizeable survey administered to 3,750 servicemembers and a 2006 DOD survey, the most recent available, that occurrences of sexual assault may be exceeding the rate being reported, suggesting that DOD and the Coast Guard have only limited visibility over the incidence of these occurrences. Although DOD and the Coast Guard have established some mechanisms for overseeing reports of sexual assault, neither has developed an oversight framework, including clear objectives, milestones, performance measures, and criteria for measuring progress, to guide their efforts. In compliance with statutory requirements, DOD reports data on sexual assault incidents involving servicemembers to Congress annually. However, DOD's report does not include some data that would aid congressional oversight, such as why some sexual assaults could not be substantiated following an investigation. Further, the military services have not provided sufficient data to facilitate oversight and enable DOD to conduct trend analyses.'
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