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| More than 85,000 veterans treated last year over alleged military sex abuse, report says |
| 2013-05-20 |
| 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. VA officials stress that any veteran who claims to have suffered military sexual trauma has access to free health care. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #7 So Uncle Phester - did you know you could claim disability for the 'trauma' of hearing this sexual harassment? With all seriousness - I have no doubt that there is rape and real sexual harassment on military base like everywhere else. But somehow I get the impression that they are using a very loose definition here. "He called that guy Dick! OMG! Sexual Harassment! I've been traumatized! Disability!" "Dick is his name - Richard Long or Dick Long or sometimes even Long, Dick." |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2013-05-20 20:46 |
| #6 I recall coming around a building corner at Lackland AFB one fine Texas morning and hearing a female TI, er, "counseling" her charges: "There's over a mile of dick on this base and you aren't going to see one inch of it until you learn how to MARCH." The poor lasses are probably unable to get on this new gravy train.... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2013-05-20 18:00 |
| #5 So basically every Well golly, sometimes I think I'll be the last I should get smart and figure out how to retire on them gubmint benefits too! |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2013-05-20 16:56 |
| #4 In my youth my Boy Scout troop marched to similarly rude ditties, at least when out of earshot of certain leaders. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2013-05-20 15:04 |
| #3 While marching as a private, I was made to sing a vile, disgusting song which included the phrase: If I die on the Russian front, bury me with a Russian ****. I can't get the Russian Front song out of my head. Other songs included references to bird bills, window sills, and Cadillacs. I need |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2013-05-20 14:31 |
| #2 Please tell me this isn't turing out to be another giant scam. |
| Posted by: Dopey Sinatra9196 2013-05-20 14:22 |
| #1 WSJ take The Pentagon's Bad Math on Sexual Assault |
| Posted by: tipper 2013-05-20 12:56 |