Washington, Sep 2 (IANS): The US Department of Defence released the fiscal year 2021 annual report on sexual assault in the military.

"Sexual assault and sexual harassment remain persistent and corrosive problems," the top line results read.

Over 8 per cent of active-duty women and about 1.5 per cent of active-duty men indicated experiencing some form of unwanted sexual contact in the year before the survey was conducted, Xinhua news agency reported citing the findings.

The Pentagon received a total of 8,866 reports of sexual assault, up by 1,050 reports from the 7,816 reports received in the fiscal year 2020, said the report.

In the US Army, reports of sexual assault increased 25.6 per cent from the fiscal year 2020.

The Navy saw a 9.2 per cent increase, while the Marine Corps and the Air Force saw a 1.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent increase, respectively.

The Pentagon said it is "investing significant resources to fuel needed change".