Fort Drum sexual assault numbers down, but officials say more work to do

The number of reported sexual assaults may be down at Fort Drum, but officials said there was more work to be done in tackling the issue.

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“We don’t try to base victory off the numbers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jay Hoffman, the post’s Sexual Assault Response Coordinator.

The post had 74 reports of sexual assault in the 2016 calendar year, down from 93 the previous year. There were 13 formal sexual harassment complaints for 2016, down from 16 the year before.

Sgt. Hoffman said there are many factors about sexual crimes that the raw numbers may not account for, such as how comfortable people feel in making complaints.

“We try not to make too many assumptions,” he said.

The Times spoke with post officials Friday as the Department of Defense released military-wide statistics earlier this week.

The Washington Post said the Pentagon tried to estimate the scope of the problem by carrying out a survey, since service members choose not to report assaults. The results last year found that about 14,900 sexual assaults of some kind occurred in the 2016 fiscal year, compared to about 34,000 in 2006.

The Pentagon made its findings by compiling sexual assault reports and conducting a survey in which they received more than 150,000 service member responses.

Among their findings was there were 6,172 reports in fiscal 2016 compared to 6,083 in 2015, which represent everything from groping to rape.

About 1.3 percent of military women and 0.3 percent of men said someone from work either took or shared suggestive photos of them without their consent. Additionally, 4 percent of women and 1.4 percent of men indicated someone showed them explicit materials that made them uncomfortable or upset.

The study also found 58 percent of those reporting assaults — and two-thirds of women — still face some form of backlash in their unit, either direct retaliation or issues with other personnel aware of the abuse.

At Fort Drum, multiple efforts are underway to help victims of sexual assault, and relay best practices about the issues at multiple levels.

1st Lt. Seth Revetta, deputy program manager for the post’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention program, said one focus is in bystander intervention training.

“We’re doing more peer training to teach their battle buddies how to notice red flags of a situation that could go south,” he said.

In addition to sexual assault, the training also covers topics like suicide, domestic abuse and alcohol abuse.

In past DOD studies, Lt. Revetta said service members have indicated they will act if they see something wrong, and as a result their training focuses on situations where they can assist.

“Individuals in the Army will do something if they notice it,” he said.

The post also conducts a wide range of training for its sexual assault response team, which is staffed from personnel in several fields.

Training on sexual assault policies took place in April for battalion leaders and above in April, and training for lower level leaders is scheduled for June.

“It’s imperative soldiers trust the leaders will be able to take care of them in any situation,” Lt. Ravetta said.

The lieutenant said a key goal for the post’s sexual assault prevention programs was creating a safe environment for personnel at the post.

The sexual assault figures have drawn strong responses from some Washington lawmakers.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said the new DOD statistics showed “the scourge of sexual assault in the military remains status quo.”

“Today’s report disappointedly shows a flat overall reporting rate and a retaliation rate against survivors that remains at an unacceptable six out of 10 for a third year in a row,” she said.

The senator, who for years has called for sexual assault cases to be taken out of commanders’ hands, said the data “screams for” changes to the current system.

The Washington Post contributed to this report.