Sexual assaults in the US military are a growing epidemic across the services and thousands of victims are still unwilling to come forward despite a slew of new oversight and assistance programs, according to a Pentagon report released on Tuesday.
That shouldn't come as a surprise - just last spring trials began for 33 instructors at one air base accused of assaulting 63 recruits.
Troubling new numbers estimate that up to 26,000 military members may have been sexually assaulted last year, according to survey results.
Asked about the issue, President Barack Obama seemed to have run out of patience. "If we find out somebody's engaging in this stuff, they've got to be held accountable. Prosecuted, stripped of their positions. Court-martialed. Fired. Dishonorably discharged. Period," he said.
The new Pentagon report says the sexual assaults against women in the military are just over 6 percent.
That number is an increase over the 19,000 estimated assaults in 2011.
According to Pentagon documents, the key conclusion of the report is that "sexual assault is a persistent problem in the military and remains vastly underreported."
The report says that of the 1.4 million active duty personnel, 6.1 percent of active duty women - or 12,100 - say they experienced unwanted sexual contact in 2012, a sharp increase over the 8,600 who said that in 2010.
For men, the number increased from 10,700 to 13,900. A majority of the offenders were military members or Defense Department civilians or contractors, the report said.