- Soldiers were suspended in Fort Sill, Oklahoma after a report of sexual assault.
- The Intercept reported that a female soldier accused 22 troops of being involved in the assaults.
- Reports of sexual assault in the military have risen sharply over the past two years.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Following a report of sexual assault, a “cadre” of soldiers at Fort Sill in Oklahoma was suspended while an investigation was conducted, the army base general said.
A female soldier at the base reported on March 27 that “she was the victim of sexual assault involving Fort Sill cadre members,” Major General Ken Kamper said in a statement Thursday. He said the allegations were immediately reported to law enforcement and investigators conducted interviews.
“This soldier, who allegedly came forward for sexual assault, is absolutely safe,” Kamper said. “We are proud of the courage she has shown in these allegations.
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The statement did not say how many soldiers had been charged or suspended, but a military official told The Intercept the allegations were made against 22 soldiers and contained several incidents of assault.
The official also investigated The Intercept investigators for a video of one of the incidents that took place around the base, but a U.S. military spokesman denied that investigators had such a video.
The group involved in the allegations was ‘suspended from their normal duties’ and ‘removed from any student environment’, Kamper said. They were usually involved in training new troops. The woman who came forward was a pupil.
Sexual assault in the military is an ongoing issue, with assaults increasing sharply over the past two years, reports Sophia Ankel of Insider.
As one of his first acts after being confirmed in January, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered an investigation into how the department handles reports of sexual assault.
The issue was given extra attention last year after US Army soldier Vanessa Guillen was killed at her base in Fort Hood, Texas. Guillen’s family members said she told them she had experienced sexual harassment but was too scared to report it.
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