Perceptions of Female Veteran Military Sexual Trauma: A Phenomenological Study (original) (raw)
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Women at war: Understanding how women veterans cope with combat and military sexual trauma
Social Science & Medicine, 2012
The wars in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom, OIF) and Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF) have engendered a growing population of US female veterans, with women now comprising 15% of active US duty military personnel. Women serving in the military come under direct fire and experience combatrelated injuries and trauma, and are also often subject to in-service sexual assaults and sexual harassment. However, little is known regarding how women veterans cope with these combat and military sexual trauma experiences once they return from deployment. To better understand their experiences, we conducted semi-structured interviews with nineteen OEF/OIF women veterans between JanuaryeNovember 2009. Women veterans identified stressful military experiences and post-deployment reintegration problems as major stressors. Stressful military experiences included combat experiences, military sexual trauma, and separation from family. Women had varying abilities to address and manage stressors, and employed various cognitive and behavioral coping resources and processes to manage their stress.
2010
Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)%%%%The primary objective of this pilot study was to understand the military experiences of OEF/OIF women veterans. Seven women veterans described accounts of sexual harassment and sexual assault, also known in the Veteran Health Administration (VHA) context as Military Sexual Trauma (MST). The prevalence and dialogue of MST both explicitly and implicitly throughout all the interviews justified examining MST on its own. As an alternative to tracking new cases of MST, this thesis provides an examination of the rhetoric of betrayal and suggests that objective knowledge of MST does not exist apart from such social conditions and one’s interpretations of them. Betrayal emerged as the way in which women veterans understood and made meaning of their MST experiences during the claims-making process. Women veterans incorporated strategies to manage the sexual harassment and sexual assault they experienced while in the military environ...
This article presents an evolutionary framework for understanding the sexual assault of women in the military. We specify the evolutionary underpinnings of tensions among heterosexual males, among heterosexual females, and between males and females, and discuss how these tensions have played out in the strongly gendered context of warrior culture. In the absence of cultural interventions that take account of deep-seated conceptions of women in the military as unwelcome intruders, sexual resources for military men, or both, military women operate in an environment in which sexual assault may be deployed to enact and defend traditional military structures. We discuss how unit norms are likely to affect the choice of strategies by men and by women, and how the resulting behaviors--including celibacy, consensual sex, and sexual assault--should affect horizontal and vertical unit cohesion. The framework is intended to guide future data collection in theoretically coherent ways and to inform the framing and enforcement of policies regarding both consensual and non-consensual sex among military personnel.
Violence and Gender
Conduct a narrative review study to identify, evaluate, and summarize pertinent published literature on the influence of U.S. military culture on male victims of military sexual assault (MSA) and military sexual trauma (MST). Various aspects of military culture have been shown to contribute significantly to barriers of reporting, prevention, and social support for male service members who have experienced MST and MSA in the U.S. military forces. A variety of U.S. military cultural factors associated with barriers to reporting MST/MSA among male military service members and veterans were assessed and identified in this narrative review. Overall study findings suggest that increasing research on the impact of military culture and male MST and MSA is imperative in the effort to reduce and prevent sexual violence within the U.S. military armed forces. Various aspects of the U.S. military culture play a significant role in the influence of sexual assault occurrences that take place within U.S. military service units. Supporting evidence suggests that the U.S. military culture impacts the overall severity of barriers to reporting sexual assault and/or trauma among male military service members and veterans.
The Sociological Review, 2006
This paper reports on a study of the Canadian Forces’ (CF's) response to woman abuse in military families which was conducted using institutional ethnography feminist methodology. A 20-person multidisciplinary team conducted 126 semi-structured interviews in four Canadian provinces with: (1) present and former civilian female partners of CF members, who were survivors of abuse [64]; (2) regional civilian and CF social service providers, and CF supervisory personnel [52]; and (3) National Defence Headquarters program administrators and generals in Ottawa [10]. Analyzing these interviews enabled us to identify and elaborate on some of the military social relations in which the experiences of military spouses who are woman abuse survivors are embedded. This paper discusses the difficulties created for military spouses by geographical transfers and military housing neighbourhoods, and establishes the crucial role played by the chain of command in military organizations’ responses to...
"Routine Trauma"-Awareness of Combat Trauma in Women Combatants
Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2023
The current research aims to explore the nature of trauma experienced by female combatants. Method: Data were collected from two focus groups and a series of personal interviews with 100 women military veterans who had served in the Israel Defense Forces as combat or combat-support soldiers. Results: Interviews with these veterans revealed a variety of narratives about their war experiences, including an intertwining of the emotional and the physical. The ongoing danger and traumatic events that the combatants and combat-support soldiers faced on a daily basis were woven into their stories. These narratives indicated that-alongside their exposure to traumatic and potentially life-threatening situations-the soldiers also felt empowered and valued as a result of their military service. The women soldiers' perspectives regarding their military service covered three main themes, "experiencing trauma," "meaningful combat experiences," and "the need to be heard." Conclusions: Through qualitative research and narrative analysis, this study offers mental health professionals, policy makers, and scholars ways to gain a nuanced insight into women's combat trauma that avoids categorization. Based on the research findings, we suggest that additional aspects of trauma can be understood through the study of women soldiers, who face a "double battle"-combat, with the attendant trauma, and the gendered biases of the masculine military environment. Our findings suggest that there is value in engaging with and listening to diverse narratives of trauma and emphasize the need for a critical perspective in the study of trauma and combat trauma. Clinical Impact Statement The research sought to listen attentively to narratives of women combatants and combat-support soldiers with the aim to find the most appropriate means to make their voices heard and to reveal their military experience, including their trauma as well as their strengths and capabilities. Examining the military experience as a whole, and not merely the traumatic events, may assist mental health professionals to deepen the understanding of the experiences of women in the military and to create a more equitable military environment. Consequently, the research provides data to inform policy decisions and to help create effective support programs for veterans.
Military Sexual Trauma Among U.S. Female Veterans
Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 2011
Sexual abuse among female veterans reportedly occurs in significant numbers in the U.S. military and has been recognized to cause posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD, which stems from sexual abuse, has been called military sexual trauma (MST), which has only recently been recognized by the Department of Defense. Consequently, there has been scant research on the prevalence, impact, and treatment of MST. This article explores the phenomenon of sexual aggression against female veterans in the U.S. military, risk factors for MST, PTSD as a result of MST, a conceptual framework for treating PTSD stress, and treatment strategies for PTSD.
Military sexual trauma in treatment-seeking women veterans
Military Psychology, 2009
As the number of women serving in the military continues to grow, it is increasingly important to explore the sequelae of military sexual trauma (MST) among female veterans. The current study included 232 female veterans who sought outpatient mental health treatment at an urban Veterans Affairs hospital. The study's aims were to (a) describe and compare the demographic characteristics, health behaviors, and psychological symptoms of female veterans who have experienced MST to those veterans who do not report this experience; and (b) examine the associations between psychological symptoms and health behaviors in this sample, stratified by MST sta-tus. Results indicate that treatment-seeking women veterans who reported experiencing MST endorsed more psychological distress compared to those who did not report experiencing MST. In addition, psychological symptoms were associated with engaging in problematic health behaviors, such as binge eating and infrequent physical exercise among both those women who experienced MST and those who did not.
Impact of Gender on Reactions to Military Sexual Assault and Harassment
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Research has shown that experiences of military sexual assault and harassment can have a negative impact on veterans' health and functioning, even years or decades later, thus clearly identifying this as an important area of concern for social workers. In addition to understanding the scope and general impact of military sexual assault and harassment, social workers also must thoroughly understand how different cultural factors may intersect with veterans' experiences. To this end, this article reviews the current knowledge base on how veterans' life experiences related to gender can affect their experience of and recovery from military sexual assault and harassment, highlights common gender-specific issues, and discusses implications for practice.
Encountering Women Veterans With Military Sexual Trauma
Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 2014
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