Coming Home: A Field Guide (Part 7: Assistance for Military Sexual Trauma)

I can’t possibly imagine what it would be like to deal with sexual assault – such a private assault that has to hurt in so many ways – and then seeking care. I don’t say that to sound ignorant or insensitive. I really do think it’s a particularly painful experience that needs special care.

I’ve experienced a different kind of trauma, the trauma of war, and that once blasted my brain into immobility and reduced my psychology to a nonfunctioning status; I really don’t know how I would have been able to cope with a sexual assault. If you are someone who is going through this, you have my utmost sympathy and respect. The first step is often the hardest. Here are some resources you can use on your return to wellness.

www.myduty.mil

This website provides a complete overview of handling, reporting and seeking help for a recent sexual trauma according to the guidelines of the Department of the Defense. As discussed in the last blog, there any many unique considerations for Military Sexual Trauma that are different from the civilian world, and you can use this site as resource for navigating them.

The Department of Veteran’s Affairs

I would like to have listed this organization at the top of this list, but it really seems to me that the VA has turned a blind eye to this issue. I can’t find much on their site that has been updated since 1992. Here is a link to the resources that VA does provide. It seems like a good start at least. It should be mentioned also, that you don’t need to have a service-connected disability and you don’t need to have documentation of the sexual trauma to access their services. Every VA hospital has a specialist who deals with MST specifically, so they could help coordinate your treatment and answer any questions you would have.

www.stopmilitaryrape.org

This website has some helpful resources and links, however it was started by a service member who survived MST (and was subsequently discharged because of her assault) and the website definitely seems to have a clear agenda. It’s more of a special interest group than a nonprofit organization, however they do provide some legal resources should they be necessary. If you ask me, just the title of this website seems really insensitive.

www.militarysexualtrauma.org

A rudimentary website with a few different sections, this site I would visit last out of this group. Its positives include an information section for families and friends of a survivor of MST, and book reviews of literature regarding the subject. There’s also some victim artwork, but it’s just a couple “pages” from a journal, which I doubt will be helpful to someone dealing with MST.

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It breaks my heart how little there is out there for this issue. It should be known that, while the circumstances of Military Sexual Trauma can be somewhat unique, there are innumerable civilian resources for dealing with sexual assault like the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network, which could provide additional resources to anyone dealing with any type of sexual assault.

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