New government figures underscore the staggering long-term consequences of military sexual assaults: More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for injuries or illness linked to the abuse, and 4,000 sought disability benefits.
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ accounting shows a heavy financial and emotional cost that affects several generations of veterans and lasts long after a victim leaves the service. Sexual assault or repeated sexual harassment can trigger a variety of health problems, primarily post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. While women are more likely to be victims, men made up nearly 40 percent of the patients the VA treated for conditions connected to what it calls “military sexual trauma.”
It took years for Ruth Moore of Milbridge, Maine, to begin getting treatment from a VA counseling center in 2003 — 16 years after she was raped twice while she was stationed in Europe with the Navy. She continues to get counseling at least monthly for PTSD linked to the attacks and is considered fully disabled.
VA officials stress that any veteran who claims to have suffered military sexual trauma has access to free health care.
“It really is the case that a veteran can simply walk through the door, say they’ve had this experience, and we will get them hooked up with care. There’s no documentation required. They don’t need to have reported it at the time,” said Dr. Margret Bell, a member of the VA’s military sexual trauma team.
However, the hurdles are steeper for those who seek disability compensation — too steep for some veterans groups and lawmakers who support legislation designed to make it easier for veterans to get a monthly disability payment.
“Right now, the burden of proof is stacked against sexual trauma survivors,” said Anu Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network. “Ninety percent of 26,000 cases last year weren’t even reported. So where is that evidence supposed to come from?”
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said reducing the incidence of sexual assaults in the military is a top priority. But it’s a decades-old problem with no easy fix, as made even more apparent when an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was arrested recently on sexual battery charges.
The VA says 1 in 5 women and 1 in 100 men screen positive for military sexual trauma, which the VA defines as “any sexual activity where you are involved against your will.” Some report they were victims of rape, while others say they were groped or subjected to verbal abuse or other forms of sexual harassment.
But not all those veterans seek health care or disability benefits related to the attacks. The 85,000 who sought outpatient care linked to military sexual trauma during the latest fiscal year are among nearly 22 million veterans around the country.
The VA statistics underscore that the problems for victims of sexual abuse do not end when someone leaves the service.
Psychological issues, including PTSD, depression and anxiety, are most common, according to the agency. Victims also can develop substance abuse problems.
Some victims, like Moore, are so disabled they are unable to work. Others need ongoing care at VA outpatient clinics and hospitals.
In the final six months of 2011, an average of 248 veterans per month filed for disability benefits related to sexual trauma. The VA said the numbers increased by about a third, to 334 veterans per month in 2012, which officials attributed in part to better screening for the ongoing trauma associated with sexual assault. Of those who filed in 2012, about two-thirds were women and nearly a third were men.
To get disability benefits related to sexual trauma, veterans must be diagnosed with a health problem such as PTSD, submit proof they were assaulted or sexually harassed in a threatening manner, and have a VA examiner confirm a link to their health condition.
Many lawmakers and veterans groups support allowing a veteran’s statement alone to serve as the proof that an assault or harassment occurred. An examiner would still have to find there’s a link to the health condition diagnosed.
The VA does not break out the cost of treating and compensating individual veterans for sexual abuse or trauma. A veteran’s combination of disabilities is unique to each individual, so it’s not able to attribute specific spending levels for individual disabilities.
It wasn’t until June 2011 that the VA began recording monthly disability claims related specifically to military sexual trauma.
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