The Pentagon certainly put an optimistic spin on its latest statistics on sexual assaults, crowing that the number reported to authorities – 5,983 assaults, up 8% from last year – shows growing trust in the military justice system.

That's one way to look at the numbers. Another is that in an average day in the U.S. military, at least 16 sexual assaults were reported. And that, according to a separate Defense Department survey, another 13,000 incidents of "unwanted sexual contact," from touching to rape, went unreported during the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

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