.Female war vets report sex traumas
About one out of seven female veterans of Afghanistan or Iraq who visit a Veterans Affairs center for medical care reports being a victim of sexual assault or harassment during military duty, according to a study released Tuesday.
More than half of these women have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A similar proportion of male veterans with sexual traumas have PTSD, but fewer than one out of 100 men who had recent deployments say they were harassed or sexually assaulted in the military, the report said.
It's the first large study to screen veterans for sexual assaults and harassment, covering more than 125,000 who received VA care from October 2001 to October 2007.
Mental disorders are more prevalent among those who had sexual traumas in the military, said Rachel Kimerling, a psychologist at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the VA Palo Alto health care system in California. She's coauthor of the report, released at the American Public Health Association meeting in San Diego. Women with military-related sexual traumas had a 59% higher risk for mental health problems; men had a 40% higher risk.
"There is concern about the number of sexual assaults, and we're working very hard to prevent them," said Kaye Whitley, who heads an office created by the Pentagon in 2005 to prevent and respond to the incidents.
A General Accounting Office report in July said training to prevent military sexual assaults isn't consistently effective, some commanders don't support the programs and more than half of victims don't report the incidents.
Many service women are afraid to report the assaults, said Anita Sanchez of the Miles Foundation, a nonprofit that provides services to victims of military-related trauma..
"A typical scenario is it's either a supervisor or someone at her level, in the same military unit. If you come forward, you're tattle-telling on a comrade. Women have told me about the sneers, the sarcastic comments. They can find themselves ostracized," said Sanchez.
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More than half of these women have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A similar proportion of male veterans with sexual traumas have PTSD, but fewer than one out of 100 men who had recent deployments say they were harassed or sexually assaulted in the military, the report said.
It's the first large study to screen veterans for sexual assaults and harassment, covering more than 125,000 who received VA care from October 2001 to October 2007.
Mental disorders are more prevalent among those who had sexual traumas in the military, said Rachel Kimerling, a psychologist at the National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the VA Palo Alto health care system in California. She's coauthor of the report, released at the American Public Health Association meeting in San Diego. Women with military-related sexual traumas had a 59% higher risk for mental health problems; men had a 40% higher risk.
"There is concern about the number of sexual assaults, and we're working very hard to prevent them," said Kaye Whitley, who heads an office created by the Pentagon in 2005 to prevent and respond to the incidents.
A General Accounting Office report in July said training to prevent military sexual assaults isn't consistently effective, some commanders don't support the programs and more than half of victims don't report the incidents.
Many service women are afraid to report the assaults, said Anita Sanchez of the Miles Foundation, a nonprofit that provides services to victims of military-related trauma..
"A typical scenario is it's either a supervisor or someone at her level, in the same military unit. If you come forward, you're tattle-telling on a comrade. Women have told me about the sneers, the sarcastic comments. They can find themselves ostracized," said Sanchez.
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