Women in the military, who often remain out of the spotlight, could soon get more visibility. And, that attention could come at the embarrassment of the Defense Department. Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), an advocacy organization for women in the military, recently teamed up with the ACLU to fight for greater transparency and action for victims of Military Sexual Trauma (MST.)
SWAN initially filed requests for this information from each of the military branches. Those requests were either denied outright or ignored by those branches. It is SWAN’s assertion that the DOD has wrongfully withheld those records.
SWAN and the ACLU filed suit in US District Court in New Haven, Connecticut against the Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Veteran's Affairs (VA) for records the government has withheld about MST. Anuradha Bhagwati, Executive Director of SWAN, says, “We want to know how many claims are accepted or rejected and have those claims broken down by race and gender.”
SWAN and the ACLU are seeking greater oversight with assault reporting, greater enforcement, greater funding for MST victim treatment, and improved ways for victims to report MST anonymously and without fear of retribution or isolation. It is the belief of SWAN and the ACLU that by making the embarrassing military records about MST public these goals can be achieved.
SWAN has also been key in pointing out the treatment, or lack of treatment, for MST survivors by the VA. While great strides have been made in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment for combat veterans, the same cannot be said for the victims of MST. SWAN points out that veterans who file MST claims consistently have their claims denied by failing to prove an “initial stressor” despite the fact that requirements for proving initial stressors were recently relaxed for combat veterans.
In accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, the DOD and VA have been asked to make public their records concerning the instance rates of MST and the action taken for those reported instances. While the full scope of MST is still not known, the available data is shocking. Recent survey’s have shown that instances of sexual assault and rape are double that of the civilian population. An estimated 1 in 3 women experience sexual assault during their enlistment and that 6-23% of female servicemembers are the victim of rape or attempted rape. Additionally, those studies reveal that 14% of military rape victims are the victims of gang rape.
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