The U.S. Coast Guard Academy has taken new tack toward preventing
sexual assaults, The (New London, Conn.) Day reported.
Rear Adm. Sandra L. Stosz, the academy's superintendent, hired a new
full-time sexual assault response coordinator who previously had worked with the
Marine Corps to combat such crimes, according to the report.
Training on the topic is being revamped so cadets will know better
how to protect themselves and how to help others in dangerous situations, the
report said.
In four years at the Coast Guard Academy, seven classmates have come
to Tahnee Zaccano, co-president of Cadets Against Sexual Assault, to report that
they had been sexually assaulted, and about 30 more complained of being sexually
harassed. Zaccano's experience mirrors the findings in the academy's 2013
report to Congress on sexual harassment and violence during the 2011-12 school
year, and a Department of Defense student survey on gender relations. The report and survey show little improvement over previous years --
many of the figures increased slightly or stayed the same. While few cadets had
reported incidents to academy officials, nearly 10 percent of the women surveyed
said they had experienced unwanted
sexual contact. Forty percent of women and 10 percent of men said they had been
sexually harassed. Across the Coast Guard, the number of reported sexual assaults
increased from 70 in 2009 to 80 in 2010, 88 in 2011 and 156 in 2012. The (New
London, Conn.) Day
ARA/DB
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