6% Of Women In The Military Are Pressured For Sexual Favors, Survey Shows

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon says women in the armed forces appear almost four times as likely as men to be subjected to sexual harassment.

According to a survey of 38,000 military men and women, the most common form of harassment was teasing or suggestive remarks, but 15 percent of the women and 2 percent of the men said they had been pressured for sexual favors.

``Five percent of the females and 1 percent of the male respondents reported actual or attempted rape or sexual assault,'' said the Pentagon.

Survey participants in the four armed services and the Coast Guard were queried between December 1988 and April 1989 about sexual harassment on the job in the previous year. About 60 percent of those contacted returned replies.

The proportion of women varies from service to service, but they are about 11 percent of today's 2 million people in the armed forces.

Overall, the Pentagon said, 22 percent of active-duty personnel indicated they had experienced ``some form of sexual harassment ranging from sexual jokes to actual assault.''

The survey found that 64 percent of the women, but only 17 percent of the men, had experienced some form of sexual harassment on the job.

The survey also showed:

-- Eighty-two percent of the female victims and 74 percent of the male victims said the harassment took the form of sexual teasing, jokes or comments.

-- Sixty-nine percent of the female victims and 54 percent of the male victims said it took the form of suggestive looks, gestures or body language.

-- Sixty percent of the women victims and 51 percent of the men victims reported contact such as touching or pinching.

The female victims said the approaches were made by men acting alone 75 percent of the time. The male victims said 50 percent of the incidents involved women acting alone, 10 percent involved a group of women, and the other incidents involved men or a mixed group.