'Rape more threatening than enemy fire'

The number of US female soldiers sexually assaulted by their male counterparts and superiors in Iraq and Afghanistan has jumped by 25%, official US data shows.

According to the latest Pentagon figures over 3,700 women were sexually assaulted in year 2009, which is close to a third of US female veteran population.

This is while the Pentagon estimates that 80 to 90 percent of rapes don't get reported for fear of retaliation.

The Defense Task Force meanwhile found that only 8% of those military rape charges that have been reported result in prosecution, and astonishingly, about 80% of those who do get convicted are honorably discharged from the army.

"There are a few serial rapists over there who get away with it, because of the way the military law is set up," Lori Manning from Women's Research and Educational Institute told Press TV.

Some women who join the military to help fight in Iraq and Afghanistan say they are more likely to be raped by a fellow American soldier than getting killed by enemy fire.

Women groups are now calling on the Pentagon to hire more psychologists to help female soldiers cope after being raped. They have also asked for more military prosecutors and more rape prevention programs which have so far done little to stem the rising number of rapes.

However, even though President Barack Obama's administration is quit aware of the problem of rape in the US military, it has been very slow in addressing the issue, and has only asked the Congress to advance more money for more prevention programs.

Source: PressTV