WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- At least 112 women in the military have reported sexual assaults in Iraq and Afghanistan during the last two years, officials told the Senate Wednesday.
Testimony before the Senate Armed Services subcommittee on personnel indicated all but two of the alleged incidents involved fellow service members. The U.S. Central Command is investigating the allegations.
"Why is there less public outrage when servicewomen suffer at the hands of fellow servicemen than at the enemy?" asked Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a member of the subcommittee.
The Army has had at least 86 such incident, while the Navy reported 12 allegations - all of which occurred in Bahrain. The Marine Corps has had six allegations of six incidents since Sept. 11, and the Air Force reported eight allegations, two of which were at the hands of foreign national.
Those numbers may be lower than what is actually occurring, according to Christine Hansen of The Miles Foundation, which works with victims of sexual violence in the military community.
Hansen told the subcommittee her foundation knows of 68 cases of sexual assault, and just 11 off those have reported the incidents to military authorities.
