Stars and Stripes: Sexual assault victims say VA isn’t doing enough
Stars and Stripes talks to Protect Our Defenders board member, Brian Lewis:
Brian Lewis, a Navy veteran who was raped by a fellow soldier in 2000, said of the 12 VA post-traumatic stress disorder residential facilities nationwide that specialize in sexual assault counseling, only one accepts male patients. The department offers no men-only support groups.
“Many people see this as only a women’s issue,” he said. “That is not the case. The VA is fundamentally failing male survivors of military sexual trauma every day.”
But Lisa Wilken, an Air Force veteran assaulted by peers in 1993, said many victims who are frustrated with a lack of offerings by the VA find it impossible to seek care outside the system, because of the department’s reluctance to pay for non-VA counselors. Others said the department’s screening efforts leave too many victims out.
