Democracy Rules

Active-Duty female personnel make up 14% of our current armed forces - or about 200,000 of our 1.3 million servicemembers. Even before the ban prohibiting women from participating in combat was lifted in 2015, many female troops were experienced in combat. Unfortunately, many of these Americans have also experienced the ugly specter of military sexual trauma (MST) committed by fellow servicemembers. It is estimated nearly one of every three female military personnel has been sexually assaulted, compared with an average of one of every six female civilians. There were 8,866 military sexual assaults reported to the Department of Defense by servicemembers in 2021, a 13% increase from 2020. A recent confidential survey conducted by the military estimated that about 35,900 active-duty service members said they had experienced some form of unwanted sexual contact in 2021. Of those 35,900, 19,300 women and 16,600 men said they experienced unwanted sexual contact. Even so, the majority of MSTs are not reported to authorities. Most victims of MST are female junior enlists under the age of 25 who were harassed by someone in their chain of command.

Advocates claim many homeless female veterans suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder as a result of experiencing combat and having been sexually harassed or assaulted during their time in the service. Approximately one out of five women who visits VA facilities tells their health care provider they experienced sexual trauma while in the military. Advocates say these crimes undermine the morale and cohesion of our military units. They also say many convicted offenders go unpunished because superiors often overturn their convictions. One study found the DoD vastly underreports the number of sexual assaults committed by servicemembers against civilians, including many assaults against civilian spouses of military personnel. It concluded that about half of all military sexual assaults are now being committed against civilians. However, these statistics are not counted in the DOD’s sexual assault prevalence reports.

In an important recent development, our nation’s top general says he is dropping his opposition to a proposal to take decisions on sexual assault prosecution out of the hands of commanders.

Pending Legislation: H.R.1082 - Military Sexual Trauma Retirement Equity Act
Sponsor: Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (PR-At Large)
Status: House Committee on Armed Services
Chair: Rep. Mike Rogers (AL)

I oppose reforming current military sexual trauma policy and wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Speaker Mike Johnson (LA).
I support expanding eligibility for certain special compensation to disabled uniformed services retirees who are survivors of military sexual trauma by: 1.) Renaming combat-related special compensation as trauma-related special compensation and making eligible for such compensation trauma-related disabled uniformed services retirees (i.e., members of the uniformed services who have a trauma-related disability and are entitled to retired pay). 2.) Expanding the former definition of a combat-related disability (now a trauma-related disability under this bill) to include a disability that is compensable under laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and is determined by the VA to be the result of military sexual trauma. And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Mike Rogers (AL) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.

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I support expanding eligibility for certain special compensation to disabled uniformed services retirees who are survivors of military sexual trauma by: 1.) Renaming combat-related special compensation as trauma-related special compensation and making eligible for such compensation trauma-related disabled uniformed services retirees (i.e., members of the uniformed services who have a trauma-related disability and are entitled to retired pay). 2.) Expanding the former definition of a combat-related disability (now a trauma-related disability under this bill) to include a disability that is compensable under laws administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and is determined by the VA to be the result of military sexual trauma. And wish to donate resources to the campaign committee of Rep. Mike Rogers (AL) and/or to an advocate group currently working with this issue.