More money than ever is being spent to convince girls to join the military in the US. But reports show that they actually are becoming victims of sexual assault at the hands of recruiters even before they take their military oath of allegiance.

Aimee Allison, a former soldier in the US army says there is a deep problem of widespread abuse and a system that protects the criminals.

Recently, the Marine Corps agreed to revamp its recruiting practices in Northern California and pay $200,000 to two young women who claimed they were raped during a slumber party at a Ukiah county recruiting office.

The women were in high school, 17 years old, and interested in joining the military in late 2004 when they claimed the two recruiters, Sgts. Joseph Dunzweiler and Brian Fukushima, raped them. Both recruiters were demoted after court-martial proceedings but were acquitted of the most serious charges.

The unusual settlement, signed by a federal judge in San Francisco, requires notices to be posted at recruiting stations throughout the region advising potential recruits how to reach a confidential advocate if they feel a recruiter has behaved inappropriately, and explaining that young women have the right to work with a female recruiter. The settlement also requires female supervision at slumber parties with female recruits.

One of the young women told a news agency last year that they were drinking and playing cards at a recruiting station slumber party when Fukushima climbed into her sleeping bag on the floor of the station and took off her pants. Two other recruiters were having sex with two of her friends in the same room, she said.