Work area inspections and renewed emphasis on prevention are some of the initiatives that the U.S. Army Pacific is taking to combat sexual assaults.

A panel of experts held a news conference at Fort Shafter on Wednesday to discuss increased efforts by the command to combat the problem.

Lt. Col. Brenden Burke, human resources executive officer for U.S. Army Pacific, said the retired commanding general, Lt. Gen. Francis Wiercinski, had made the prevention of sexual assaults his No. 1 priority.

Also a priority is "the care for those victims who have suffered from sexual assaults," Burke said.

One of the initiatives includes a reassessment of advocates, coordinators and program managers to ensure qualified individuals hold those positions, he said.

Also, workplace inspections by commanders and supervisors are under way to ensure conditions are set so that the dignity and respect of all service members are taken care of, Burke said.

Since the inception of the Department of Defense’s sexual assault and prevention response program several years ago, the Army has increased the number of victim advocates and sexual assault response coordinators.

"It’s a program that the Army has had an emphasis on," he said. "Now, we’re getting a bit more leadership on it. But it’s not just because of what’s going on in the news. It’s because it’s what’s right to do."

Earlier this week, the Senate Armed Services Committee grilled top brass during a hearing on the Military Justice Improvement Act of their neglect of the sexual assault problem. Under the law, uniformed prosecutors would oversee major criminal cases instead of commanders.

According to a recent Pentagon report, the number of reported sexual assaults by members of the military rose 6 percent to 3,374 in 2012. Still, thousands of victims were still unwilling to come forward despite new oversight and assistance programs aimed at curbing the crimes, the report said.

Lt. Col. Ed Austin, manager of the 25th Infantry Division Sexual Harassment & Assault Response and Prevention Program, said the rise of sexual assault reports reflects how more military personnel feel comfortable to report what had happened due to the increased network of advocates and sexual assault response coordinators.

In some cases, assaults are being reported that occurred one or two years earlier.

In October 2012, the Army included sexual harassment in the sexual assault prevention and response program. Other military branches have yet to take that step.

"The Army has made the determination that sexual harassment, the conditions in which sexual harassments occur, have the tendency to progress into sexual assaults," Burke said. "And so we want to stop the issue as they’re starting."

According to U.S. Army Pacific, 35 cases in Hawaii were reported in fiscal year 2012. For this fiscal year, 23 cases have been reported as of March 31. A majority of the cases in each fiscal year were sexual assault cases.

U.S. Army Pacific, based at Fort Shafter, has command of 80,000 soldiers in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Japan. Wiercinski retired Tuesday.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.