For years now, researchers at RAND have documented the enormous toll that sexual harassment and assault have on the men and women of the U.S. military. In a recent report, they laid out a point-by-point strategy to prevent it, to take it out by the roots. Their main message: The military needs to do more, do it better, and do it now.

“These people are supposed to be your brothers and sisters; we're supposed to have each others' backs,” said McCoy, whose dream of an Army career disintegrated amid the unrelenting abuse she suffered. “If we can't have each others' backs, then that's a national security issue. It makes our nation weaker.”

Research at RAND has shown that almost half of military sexual assaults target lesbian, gay, or bisexual service members. It has identified ships and bases with disproportionate rates of sexual violence—among them, Fort Hood. One recent RAND study calculated that 8,000 service members left the military in a 28-month period after they were sexually harassed, over and above usual attrition. Around 2,000 more left after an assault.

Advocates have pushed the Pentagon for years to improve its handling, and criminal prosecution, of sexual assault and harassment cases, with some success. The Army, for example, plans to create special centers on several bases to bring together victim advocates, investigators, and prosecutors. But RAND's recommendations look further upstream, at what the military can do to create a safe environment long before investigators and prosecutors are needed.

“Military leaders are taking steps, but they really need to think big, to shift from a deterrence mindset to prevention,” said Joie Acosta, a senior behavioral and social scientist who coauthored RAND's recent report on strategies to prevent sexual assault and harassment in the military. “If someone is harassing people, even at a low level, they need to be able to take a look and say, 'This is a pattern of behavior that we need to be concerned about.' They can't wait until that person is in the red zone to intervene.”

Read the full article about military sexual assault by Doug Irving at RAND Corporation.