Thursday, January 02, 2020

#MenToo: The hidden tragedy of male sexual abuse in the military


When I was in a class in Huntsville, AL for training to work on the Help line, when they brought up the issue of rape victims, there was laughter and unfeeling remarks by some of the men, joking that they would enjoy being raped. After I spoke up and said that if a man was raped, it would likely be by another man, there was a big silence.

https://news.yahoo.com/photos-men-too-the-hidden-tragedy-of-male-sexual-abuse-in-the-military-005342483.html

December 31, 2019

Last March, Sen. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., a retired Air Force combat pilot, disclosed that she had been the victim of multiple sexual assaults by fellow officers, putting the issue of sexual assault in the military on the national agenda. Two months later, a required biannual Department of Defense report found that sexual assault within the ranks had increased by 38 percent over two years. Much less attention has been given to the problem of sexual assault against men in uniform. The report estimated that “20,500 Service members, representing about 13,000 women and 7,500 men, experienced some kind of contact or penetrative sexual assault in 2018, up from approximately 14,900 in 2016.”

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The effects of military sexual trauma (MST) in male victims include depression, substance abuse, paranoia, hypervigilance, anger and feelings of isolation. Victims may turn to alcohol or drugs or end up homeless, even suicidal.

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