Military Sexual Assaults Cost More Than $872 Million

Military Sexual Assaults Cost More Than $872 Million
By DAVID FRANCIS
The Fiscal Times
April 30, 2013

The Veterans Affairs department spent almost $872 million in 2010 to deal with the health impacts of sexual assaults on former military personnel.

This figure is based on the $10,880 dollars the Veterans Administration spends to treat each sexual assault victim after he or she leaves the service. The $872 million does not include costs for victims still in the military.

In 2011, the last year that information on sexual assaults is available, 3,192 cases were reported to Pentagon brass. Former defense secretary Leon Panetta estimated nearly 20,000 occur each year within the military. According to a 2011 military health survey, one in five soldiers said they had been touched inappropriately since joining.

It’s not clear how much the Pentagon spends dealing with these attacks. But because of the nature of how the military deals with sexual assault allegations, it’s likely that it costs the Pentagon tens of millions of dollars.
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