WASHINGTON -- One-third of women in the military and 6 percent of men said they were sexually harassed, according to the latest Pentagon survey on the issue.

The figure for women was worse than the previous finding several years ago but better than a similar survey taken in 1995, the Defense Department said in a report Friday. The Defense Manpower Data Center said it compiled the data from a survey of 24,000 people in 2006.

A separate report on sexual assaults showed that fewer cases were reported among military personnel in 2007 after years of significant increases.

There were 2,688 sexual assaults reported last year by people in uniform, the figures showed. That was down about 9 percent from the 2,947 reported the year before.

Officials said some changes in the method of reporting data made it difficult to compare numbers year to year. In 2005, there were about 2,400 sexual assaults reported.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman did not confirm details of the report on sexual assaults but said "the minimal decrease in numbers should not be necessarily viewed as any type of indicator or change."

"It takes several years to develop usable trends in data," he said. "While the numbers are marginally down, it would be too early and premature to make any big assessments in terms of trends."

Reports of sexual assault reports had jumped by about 24 percent in 2006 and nearly 40 percent in 2005. Officials attributed the increases partly to more aggressive efforts to encourage victims to come forward.

In a press release, the Department of Defense pointed to restricted reporting, which provides a victim with support services without initiating the criminal investigation process and preserves the victim's anonymity, as a key to ensuring victims report sexual assaults.

The department said some research had found that victims may choose to forego services rather than participate in the investigative process. Of the 2,688 reports made, 705 were under the restricted program. In 102 of these cases, victims later decided to pursue legal charges and switched their report to unrestricted.

Training was also touted by the department in the release. About 90 percent of active duty members said they had received training in the past year related to sexual harassment and sexual assault and that the training was effective.

However, the department went on to say that the survey results will help evaluate the effectiveness of its training and reporting efforts and guide any future changes.

This is the fourth year the military has compiled detailed statistics on sexual assaults. The reporting methods have changed each year, complicating efforts to evaluate progress or to determine whether it is the actual assaults or the reporting that is going up or down.

The cases involved members of the military who were either victims or accused of the assaults. The military counts rape, nonconsensual sodomy, indecent assault and attempts to commit any of those as sexual assault.

According to the documents, 1,516 reports involved the Army; 565 for the Air Force; 394 for the Navy; and 213 for the Marines. The active duty Army, by far the largest service with about 518,000 soldiers, also saw the highest rate of reported sexual assaults.

The Army had 2.6 reports per 1,000 soldiers; the Air Force's rate was 1.6 reports per 1,000; the Marines' rate was 1.1 per 1,000; and the Navy's rate was 1 per 1,000 sailors. The average was 1.8 sexual assaults reported per 1,000 military members.

Additional Resource:

• Defense Department Sexual Assault and Prevention