The U.S. ambassador to Japan expressed regret on Saturday for the handling of two cases of sexual assaults allegedly committed by American military service members stationed in Okinawa.

The issue arose late last month, triggering an uproar over reports that two American service members had been charged with sexual assaults months earlier.

A 24-year-old raped by armed men in her home just feet from her mother. A 19-year-old abducted and raped by four men over three days. A 28-year-old women’s rights activist, seized by men on the doorstep of her home and then raped while being held for hours in an abandoned house.

They are among 11 young Masalit women interviewed by Reuters who said they were sexually assaulted amid the war in Sudan by members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an Arab-dominated paramilitary group, and allied Arab militiamen. The assaults, they said, took place during weeks of attacks earlier this…

Female soldiers face rampant sexism, harassment and other gender-related challenges in male dominated Army special operations units, according to a report Monday, eight years after the Pentagon opened all combat jobs to women.

U.S. Army Special Operations Command, in a lengthy study, reported a wide range of “overtly sexist” comments from male soldiers, including a broad aversion to females serving in commando units. The comments, it said, are “not outliers” but represent a common sentiment that women don’t belong on special operations teams.

Reports of sexual assaults across the U.S. military jumped by 13% last year, driven by significant increases in the Army and the Navy as bases began to move out of pandemic restrictions and public venues reopened, The Associated Press has learned.

Mirroring the increase in those reports is the disclosure that close to 36,000 service members said in a confidential survey that they had experienced unwanted sexual contact — a dramatic increase over the roughly 20,000 who said that in a similar 2018 survey, U.S. defense and military officials said.

President Joe Biden on Friday backed a recommendation that U.S. military prosecutions of sexual assaults be taken away from the chain of command and given to independent prosecutors to better serve the victims.

The change recommended by an independent review commission would represent a major shift in how the military has handled sexual assaults and related crimes for decades. It comes several years after the advent of the #MeToo response to sexual assault, harassment and discrimination against women by men in various walks of life.

Pentagon spending on sexual assault prevention and response programs has quadrupled since 2008, according to figures released by the Defense Department.
Whether that investment has paid dividends depends on where you stand:
Pentagon officials point to a long-term trend of lower estimates of sexual assaults in the ranks over the last decade.

Troops who have reported sexual assaults are 12 times more likely to be retaliated against than to see their attacker convicted of sex crimes, according to a report on the fallout of filing a military sexual assault report by Human Rights Watch.

The report, to be released Monday, found that troops reporting sexual assaults have endured retaliation ranging from vile insults to social isolation and death threats. It is based o

As a combat veteran who served in the Iraq war, Iowa Republican candidate Joni Ernst knows first-hand how difficult it is to fight a war on two fronts.

Yet, that's exactly what Ernst is doing as she battles a seasoned Democratic rival, Rep. Bruce Braley, for the state's open Senate seat -- while locking horns with her former bosses and some in her own party over the reporting of sexual assaults in the military.

Three days ahead of his highly-anticipated address to the nation, President Barack Obama touted a new White House initiative to curb sexual assault and other violent crimes nationwide.

The White House address Saturday mimicked remarks the President made this week while announcing a task force aimed at protecting students on college campuses from sexual assault.

"Sexual assault is an affront to our basic decency and humanity. And it's about all of us - the safety of those we love most: our moms, our wives, our daughters and o

President Barack Obama set a high bar for the Pentagon’s civilian and military leaders in May when he delivered marching orders on sexual assault.