Military Sexual Trauma Essay

Abstract

Despite the United States military’s world-renowned prestige, military sexual trauma

(MST) is a harrowing issue that stains its reputation. This grossly underreported crime has especially impacted the mental health of active duty and veteran women. The nature and shame attached to sexual trauma make it a pressing and easily concealed issue in the United States, especially in the military’s unique justice system. The military environment and its legal framework contribute to a number of factors that allow MST rates to increase over time. Military sexual trauma is associated with a variety of negative consequences including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and suicidal ideation. Active-duty military and veteran

women

Although the legal atmosphere in the military regarding sexual assault is a complex challenge, intervention efforts and new policies provide the military a unique opportunity to set the standard for sexual assault victims’ protectionism and sexual trauma prevention.

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Significance

Sexual violence and harassment in the United States are major ongoing issues disproportionately affecting the lives of women. The trauma that follows such ordeals can profoundly impact lifelong health, opportunity, and well-being (CDC, 2022). Victims of sexual violence, and especially victims of completed rape, are at very high risk for suicidal ideation, developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), drug abuse, and experiencing negative impacts on the victim’s relationships with family, friends, and coworkers (RAINN, 2023).

Because of the sheer prevalence of sexual assault, it can be gauged that about every 68 seconds an American is sexually assaulted (Department of Justice, 2020). Annually, this averages to

463,634 victims of sexual assault and rape each year in the United States (RAINN, 2023).

Consequently, sexual trauma is a looming predicament in the U.S. that often goes

Military sexual trauma is a massive setback in all branches of the U.S. military and leaves many victims, especially women, with mental health complications and intransigent plans for leaving the military for good.

Reporting sexual crimes in the military also has its risks. Workplace retaliation and perceived retaliation are major factors in why reporting such crimes is especially challenging.

Almost half of all active duty women who reported a sexual crime also described a deep concern of perceived retaliation including threats to their military service record and their future careers

(Dardis et al., 2018). Victims fear that they would be subject to Article 15s, a form of administrative discipline, for participating in concurrent activities such as illegal alcohol use or fraternization (Dardis et al., 2018). Furthermore, between the fiscal years of 2012 and 2014, over

63% of women military personnel who formally reported a sexual harassment or assault file, experienced some form of workplace retaliation (White, 2021). Workplace retaliation can take many forms including being ignored by coworkers, being transferred to a different unit, being denied promotion or training, and/or being disciplined for infractions associated with the