Military Sexual Misconduct: International Findings, Policy, and the Need for More Research
/Military sexual misconduct—commonly defined as conduct of a sexual nature that can cause(es) harm to others, including sexual assault, inappropriate sexualized behaviors, and discriminatory behaviors, based on sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity—has received ample media attention over the past two decades. The Invisible War (2013) is a documentary film that highlights the issue of sexual assault within the United States military, and is often credited with encouraging awareness of military sexual assault and motivating policy changes intended to curb abuse and promote resources supporting survivors. A more recent film, I Am Vanessa Guillen (2022), tells the sorrowing story of a young Soldier who was found murdered at a United States Army base after numerous complaints of sexual harassment and assault. Although unique, the case highlights the continuum of harm that can occur in military contexts and calls for further reform to mitigate toxic work environments that increase risk of violence.
Sexual assault remains prevalent within the world’s militaries. In the United States, approximately 1.5% and 8.4% of active-duty service-men and -women, respectively, experienced unwanted sexual contact within the past year (Breslin et al., 2022), and meta-analytic estimates indicate that 1.9% of men and 23.6% of women experience sexual victimization at some point during their military service (Wilson, 2018). Similarly, in Canada, 2.8% of men and 7.5% of women in the Regular Force reported experiencing sexual assault within the past year (Cotter & Burzycka, 2023). Military sexual assault is less comprehensively studied beyond these two North American nations. However, the small extant literature suggests that 0.4% of men and 4.9% of women in the French military experienced sexual coercion in the past year (Moreau et al., 2021) and 5.1% of United Kingdom veteran women experienced sexual assault during their military service (Hendrikx et al., 2023).
The high prevalence of military sexual assault may be due to a confluence of factors. Common demographic characteristics of service members (e.g., young, single, male) are risk factors of sexual assault perpetration (Ebener et al., 2022), and thus may partially explain its prevalence. There also is recruitment self-selection among volunteer forces (e.g., United States, Canada), wherein many military personnel enter service to escape difficult life circumstances (Zarembo, 2014)—the trauma from which may increase risk of sexual assault perpetration (Ray & Parkhill, 2024) and victimization (Doucette et al., 2023). Furthermore, military lifestyle (e.g., combat deployment, high mobility, high alcohol use), military culture (e.g., hypermasculinity), and military structures (e.g., patriarchal occupations, hierarchical chain of command) are thought to contribute to increased risk of sexual assault while serving (Stander & Thomsen, 2016).
In light of the prevalence and presence of considerable risk factors, several of the world’s militaries have attempted to address sexual violence within their ranks, including international efforts, such as the United Nations Security Council Resolution on Gender, Women, Peace and Security, and national initiatives such as The Comprehensive Implementation Plan (2023 – present) on the elimination of sexual misconduct in the CAF in Canada, the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Program (2005 – present) in the United States, and the Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response Office (SeMPRO) in Australia (2013 – present).
Prior to 2005, the United States Secretary of Defense reviewed the Department of Defense’s (DoD) process for the treatment of victims of sexual assault in the military and concluded that a single point of accountability for sexual assault policy was needed within the DoD. As such, the SAPR Program (from the SAPR Office [SAPRO]) became the permanent authority for ensuring branches comply with all elements of sexual policy whose goal is to work towards a culture free of sexual assault through prevention, education and training, and response that is gender-inclusive, culturally-competent, and recovery-oriented. Key objectives include establishing procedures for responding to military sexual assault, such as requirements for victim advocacy, healthcare, training standards, and monthly case management groups (Sohail, 2023). SAPRO and its parent organization, DoD Office of Force Resiliency, have recently implemented an integrated primary prevention framework, which focuses on addressing upstream risk factors for a range of harmful behaviors, including sexual misconduct (Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, 2022).
In Canada, after a shift to addressing sexual misconduct as part of a larger culture change initiative, the Comprehensive Implementation Plan (CIP) was developed in 2023 (Government of Canada, 2024) and provides a detailed roadmap for implementation recommendations from four key external review reports, as well as additional conduct and culture change initiatives that will have a direct impact on the lives of DND/CAF members and their families. The plan targets four key themes for culture change that have consistently emerged from consultations with over 16,000 members as well as survivors and external experts: (1) teamwork, where high-functioning teams are actively seeking out and encouraging a diversity of skills, experience, and perspectives; (2) identity, which is allowing people to serve as their authentic selves, centered on character; (3) service, which focuses on the well-being of each team member to maintain readiness and effectiveness; and (4) leadership, where leaders that inspire trust and confidence, motivate and enable the teams to meet their mission and mandate, and achieve results in a sustainable and responsible way.
In Australia, as a response to the Australian Human Rights Commission, one of the sweeping set of reforms introduced in 2013 was to establish the SeMPRO, a centralized means of providing victims and other service members access to confidential reporting of sexual misconduct and support services (Defence Force Ombudsman, 2019). The SeMPRO was recommended to coordinate timely responses, victim support, education, policy, practice, and reporting for any misconduct of a sexual nature, including sexual harassment and sexual abuse. It was established to provide victim-focused care to defence personnel who have been affected by an incident of sexual misconduct. The significance of SeMPRO is that it is external to the Chain of Command; thus, victims experience little organizational pressure to “close down, shut up, or suffer alone” (Wadham, 2016).
Despite ongoing initiatives to prevent sexual misconduct in the world’s militaries, further research is still needed. Most research has been conducted in the U.S. military, leaving evident gaps in our understanding of military sexual misconduct more broadly, and whether there are nationally-specific risk and protective factors. Additionally, little research in military populations has been conducted beyond active-duty personnel and veterans, such as with reservists and military families, which limits knowledge of military contexts and how they may affect risk. Furthermore, nearly all research has focused on victimization rather than perpetration.
To help address these gaps, Dr. Pham is currently conducting an evaluation to examine the effectiveness of a program designed to ultimately prevent sexual misconduct within the CAF, as well as research exploring the potential risks and mitigating factors that exist in the CAF environment that may influence sexual misconduct. To examine sexual misconduct beyond active-duty personnel, ongoing research conducted by Dr. Ray and colleagues aims to understand sexual assault experiences among U.S. military spouses. Furthermore, Dr. Ray and colleagues (under review) conducted one of the few studies to examine perpetration among service members. Their results indicated that exposure to workplace sexual harassment was a risk factor of sexual aggression among U.S. Navy personnel. Rape myth acceptance was a risk factor only among male personnel, whereas perceived likelihood of obtaining consent was protective only among female personnel.
Although the above research fulfills several gaps in the extant literature, the authors call for further international research on sexual misconduct. Specifically, military researchers should be attentive to contextual risk factors and military subpopulations with heightened risk of victimization (e.g., demographic minority groups) and how these may differ by nation. Moreover, the study of sexual misconduct is incomplete without comprehensive assessment of sexual aggression. Additional research is needed to identify upstream risk and protective factors of sexual aggression, as well as how to best integrate these factors into prevention efforts. Such research is necessary to inform policy and evidence-based interventions working to mitigate sexual misconduct in the world’s militaries.
Drs. Travis N. Ray and Anna T. Pham are members of ISRA’s 2022 New Investigator cohort and experts in interpersonal violence within military contexts.
Dr. Ray is a Research Psychologist at the Naval Health Research Center/Leidos Inc. and Adjunct Instructor of Psychology at Oakland University in the United States.
Dr. Pham is currently working at the Sexual Misconduct Support and Resource Centre with the Department of National Defence Canada.
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Department of the Navy, U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Government, the Canadian Department of National Defence, nor the Government of Canada.
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