fun with numbers

The recent stats about sexual assaults in the military got me thinking.  In 2011, there were an estimated 19,000 sexual assaults.  In 2012, the figure jumped to 26,000.  That's horrible.

If you look at the entire U.S. military, there are just over 2,000,000 people in all the different branches.  If we presume that an individual in the military commits only one assault per person (that is, I am assuming no serial assaulters), then based on the 2012 figure, that means that about 1.3% (0.013) of the U.S. military is committing sexual assaults.  That seems like a high figure, because it is.

Look at the entire U.S. population of 330,000,000.  In 2011, there were just over 747,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S.  As a percentage of the total (non-military) population, that means that sexual assault is committed by about 2 tenths of 1% of the total population (0.002).

So, IOW, if you are in the military, you are almost 10 times as likely to commit sexual assault!!  So sexual assault is MUCH MORE COMMON IN THE MILITARY THAN IN CIVILIAN LIFE!!  The question is why and how can we reduce it to zero?

I realize the comparisons are not exact.  The 26,000 military figure is an estimation, and the 747,000 REGISTERED sex offenders is the number who have actually been through the court system.  One would have to assume that the total number in the U.S. population is therefore higher than the 747,000 who have been convicted of abuse.  Still, I think the guidelines are fair.  

So, why would sexual assault in the military be much more prevalent that sex assault in the general population?  Could it be because those in the military are under much more stress than those in the general population?  Do military sex offenders think they have a better chance of "getting away with it"?   Do military men resent having women serve alongside them?

I don't have any answers, but any way you look at it, the numbers are far too high.  The fact that this many men are still unable to control their sexual urges is disgraceful and shameful in this modern age.  No one should be able to ever "get away with" committing sexual assault.  It is a crime that should be punished.

But on the other side of the stats, these figures mean that 98.7% of those in the military do NOT commit sexual assault, and in the general population, the figure is close to 99.8% of people who do NOT commit sexual assault.  

So the vast majority of men do NOT abuse women.  That's good news.  But for those that do, punishment should be swift and severe.