The Shocking Truth About Sexual Assault In The Military

There seems to be a lack of Protection or Consequence for Perpetrators.

I feel like I am so naive. I have worked with Veterans as a psychotherapist for at least seven years. The first time I heard about a woman being sexually assaulted while on duty, I was stunned. More disturbing was that some perpetrators were high-ranking officers. These women had nowhere to go for protection. They feared if the high-ranking officer found out that they had told someone, they would be violently sexually assaulted.

It was hard to believe that these women and some men serving to protect this country and help other countries were being assaulted by military officers traumatizing their troops. According to Sadler et al. (2018), men and women face the threat of sexual assault daily despite the department of defense policy for zero tolerance.

Sadler et al. (2020) explain that zero tolerance needs to start with leadership. Since the end of the draft in 1972, many people have joined the Military to escape abusive home life. Many are young and get into leadership positions they cannot handle. During deployment, a leader must make many life-and-death decisions regarding sexual violence that are pushed to the side.