Thursday, May 23, 2013

What's this all about? More than 85,000 veterans treated last year over alleged military sex abuse

More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for injuries or illness stemming from sexual abuse in the military, and 4,000 sought disability benefits, underscoring the staggering long-term impact of a crisis that has roiled the Pentagon and been condemned by President Barack Obama as ""shameful and disgraceful." 
A Department of Veterans Affairs accounting released in response to inquiries from The Associated Press shows a heavy financial and emotional cost involving vets from Iraq, Afghanistan and even back to Vietnam, and lasting 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 last year 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 also considered fully disabled. 
"We can't cure me, but we can work on stability in my life and work on issues as they arrive," Moore said
Read the whole story HERE and view a related video below:



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5 comments:

Katrina L. Lantz said...

They should have had a female reporter conduct that interview (on the video). Of course interviewers often interrupt the people they're interviewing, but the optics of this, a man interrupting a woman talking about something so sensitive, it just wasn't good.

BOSMAN said...

Anyone who does this needs to be prosecuted ans sent to prison.

Saying that, I'd be willing to bet there was less of this going on before they started allowing men and woman to share barracks together and in combat together. You won't see any statistics on that because a lot of us would say, I TOLD YOU SO!

Katrina L. Lantz said...

I agree with you, Bos. Women have a lot to offer the military, make no mistake. But the political correction of our military is making things worse, not better.

CRUZ COUNTRY said...

Men and women soldiers share barracks together?!?!?

Do they share showers too?

It reminds me of my college days.

Anonymous said...

I agree that all of the "sexual integration" that is happening in the military now is probably making this type of behavior more common, as well as easier to accomplish. I condemn this behavior absolutely.

AZ