Academic

Study finds sexual trauma afflicts 15 percent of U.S. veterans

By Ann Bartow

From Reuters:

Nearly 15 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking medical care from the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department have suffered sexual trauma, from harassment to rape, researchers reported on Tuesday. …

… Most veterans who were affected were women, with more than one in seven women seeking health care services of some sort also reporting sexual trauma. Just under 1 percent of male veterans also reported military sexual trauma.

There is another, more detailed description of the study here at the WaPo, which reported:

According to the study, the most common mental health conditions among the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans were depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, adjustment disorders (which cause stress and other problems during certain situations), and drug addiction or alcoholism. All were more common in men and women who reported sexual trauma; post-traumatic stress disorder was much more common in women than men in that group.

I found an abstract of the study here, but could not locate an online copy of the study itself. I will update with a link if I find one.

–Ann Bartow

Full post as published by Feminist Law Professors on October 29, 2008 (boomark / email).