Reported cases of sexual assault in the U.S. military increased 50 percent in 2013, the Department of Defense said Friday. The increase suggests those who face sexual assault are becoming more comfortable with speaking out, the Associated Press reported.
According to media reports, 5,000 cases of sexual assault were filed during the 2013 fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. That is up from the 3,374 reported cases of sexual assault from the 2012 fiscal year, the AP reported.
"Of the 5,000 preliminary reports, approximately 10% are for incidents that occurred prior to the victim entering the military service," Pentagon spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Cathy Wilkinson said in a statement to ABC News. "This is a 325% increase from FY12."
In 2013, there were 86 more reported cases of sexual assault in the Marines, followed by the Army, the largest section of the military, which had a 50 percent increase. The Navy saw a 46 percent increase in reported sexual assault cases, while the Air Force had a 45 percent increase, the AP reported.
Defense officials told the AP they're not jumping to absolute conclusions with their findings. But, based on focus groups, surveys and reports from service members, the actual number of sexual assault cases has stayed the same. Those cases include unsolicited sexual advances and violent attacks.
"Given the multiple data points, we assess that this is more reporting," Colonel Alan R. Metzler, deputy director of the Pentagon's sexual assault prevention response office, told the AP.
Victims of sexual assault in the military are often discouraged from reporting their cases, due to fears of appearing weak, being retaliated against by higher-ranking officials or not being taken seriously, the AP reported. This causes an innumerable amount of sexual assault incidents to go unreported.
According to ABC News, earlier this month President Barack Obama ordered a one-year Pentagon initiative on how to prevent and better handle situations of sexual assault in the military.
