CGTN poll: Sexual assault in U.S. military tramples on human rights

Sexual assault scandal in the U.S. military has been reported again, and it is more serious than expected. According to an online poll conducted by CGTN, 88.95 percent of respondents are deeply worried about the systematic human rights violations represented by sexual assault in the U.S. military.

A recent study from the Brown University in the U.S. reveals that there were 73,695 cases of sexual assault in the U.S. military in 2023, more than twice the 29,000 cases estimated by the U.S. Department of Defense. After the study's release, the international public opinion was in an uproar. 

Facing two different statistics, 94.21 percent of respondents believe that the U.S. government deliberately concealed the existence of systematic sexual assault in the military. Faced with frequent sexual assault scandals in the U.S. military, it has long resisted external investigations, claiming that so-called military disciplines can be enforced within the army. 

In this regard, 93.9 percent of respondents believe that the U.S. military has lost credibility and its statement is unconvincing; 94.9 percent of respondents called for an independent investigation into sexual assault in the U.S. military to ensure its openness and fairness. 

According to U.S. media reports, the Junior Reserve Officers’s Training Corps conducted by the U.S. military has established a so-called "listen to orders and obey disciplines" rule, and forcibly assaulted young people under the excuse. In this regard, 82.8 percent of respondents believe that the repeated sexual assault scandals in the U.S. military have exposed loopholes in the internal supervision and ineffective punishments; 88.95 percent of respondents are worried about the serious systematic human rights violations represented by sexual assault within the U.S. military.

In addition, the U.S. military in Japan, South Korea and other overseas military bases also have the same sexual assault scandals, but the perpetrators related always can avoid legal punishments, causing strong dissatisfaction among the people of the countries where the troops are stationed. In the poll, 93.74 percent of respondents think this is another manifestation of American hegemony; 93.35 percent of respondents strongly urge the US military to sincerely apologize to the victims of the assault and bring the perpetrators to justice; 92.31 percent of respondents think the repeated sexual assault scandals in the U.S. military are accelerating the erosion of the country’s international reputation.

The poll was published on CGTN English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian platforms, with 21767 netizens voting and expressing their opinions within 24 hours.