Washington Post: Vets reeling from military sexual assault describe gaps in accessing VA health care
Washington Post talks to Protect Our Defenders board member, Brian Lewis:
Navy veteran Brian Lewis spoke of the isolation that comes from being a male victim of military sexual assault. He said he was denied access to a support group for military sexual trauma at the Baltimore VA because it was reserved for women. He also felt ostracized when joining a group of combat veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Men don’t have anywhere to go,” Lewis said. “Men are emasculated when they talk about this.”
Johnson and Lewis, along with other victims of military sexual assault, described for members of Congress the myriad barriers to care that they experienced as they sought help for the emotional problems they still stuffer as a result of being assaulted.
More than 85,000 veterans were treated through the VA last year for injuries or illness linked to sexual abuse. The chief complaints Friday focused on a lack of access to care and a general lack of sensitivity toward their suffering, which they viewed as another betrayal by the government they had tried to serve.
