PDA

View Full Version : Study: 60 percent of women in reserves suffer sex trauma



thedrifter
10-11-05, 07:03 PM
October 17, 2005
Study: 60 percent of women in reserves suffer sex trauma
By Deborah Funk
Times staff writer

A Veterans Affairs Department study that is more than four years overdue reveals that 60 percent of women and more than 27 percent of men reported suffering some form of sexual trauma while serving in the National Guard and reserve, mostly during active-duty training.

Most of the trauma was in the form of harassment. But more than one in 10 women and one in 100 men reported that they were raped, according to the report, which studied former reservists who served from 1960 to 2002.

Sexual assaults, including rape, were reported by 23 percent of women and 3.5 percent of men.

Moreover, only 1.1 percent of men and 1.5 percent of women said that they sought care at the VA for their trauma. Overall, fewer than 19 percent said they received any help at any time.

Regardless of where the care was sought, women were more likely to seek care than men, and sexual-assault victims sought care more often than victims of other kinds of sexual trauma.

Research has been done on sexual trauma among active-duty members, but this is the first such study looking at members of the reserve components.

The findings, said former project coordinator Jane Stafford, were similar to what is found among studies of active-duty service members, and, therefore, are not surprising. But the results did point to the need for better services for reservists and their families.

Researchers submitted their report to VA in October 2003, she said. But it did not become public until late September, when Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., obtained and released it.

The report estimates the cost of providing mental health counseling to former members of the reserves who have left the military to be $900 million over five to 10 years. For new service members, the annual cost for mental health care is estimated at $12 million.

Those figures are in 2003 dollars and do not account for inflation. For example, the $900 million figure would be $978 million for fiscal 2006, and the $12 million would be $13 million, according to legislative aides.

Evans accused the Bush administration of trying to suppress the report. The law that mandated the study set a deadline of March 2001 for its delivery. Evans said he has requested it numerous times but had been told the White House Office of Management and Budget was reviewing it.

“The women and men who have suffered military sexual trauma deserve our respect, compassion and commitment to provide them with ready access to counseling and treatment,” Evans said. “I am releasing the report, which I have obtained through other sources, to shine a light on a serious problem that the White House wants to hide in the shadows.”

OMB did not return a phone call seeking comment.

VA officials deny that they have buried the report. “It’s in the final stages of concurrence” with the Defense Department and the VA, said Scott Hogenson, a VA spokesman. “We wanted to make sure that it was done correctly.”

VA has provided counseling for military sexual trauma since 1992 and has trained staff members at its medical centers, community-based clinics and Vet Centers. Of the $100 million budgeted for mental health programs in fiscal 2006, $13 million is earmarked for military sexual trauma, he said.

“We’re well-prepared in terms of personnel, in terms of facilities, and in terms of budget to meet the needs,” Hogenson said.

However, a Democratic committee staffer pointed out that VA’s $13 million is for all military sexual trauma veterans, and that amount is needed annually just to treat newly separated veterans.

The Miles Foundation, a private group that monitors violence in the military and provides help to victims, said the report indicates “very significant sexual trauma” in the Guard and reserves.

Christine Hansen, the foundation’s director, said those numbers do not necessarily reflect sexual assaults that have occurred in operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

“I think you’re talking about a very significant funding level that has to be provided for,” Hansen said.

The report is online at veterans.house.gov/democr...eport.pdf.

Ellie