Symptoms of MST

Can Men and Women Have MST?

• What is military sexual trauma (MST) ?

  

  Military sexual trauma, or MST, is the term used by VA to refer to experiences of sexual assault or repeated, threatening sexual harassment that a Veteran experienced during his or her military service.

  The definition used by the VA comes from Federal law (Title 38 U.S. Code 1720D) and is “psychological trauma,which in the judgment of a VA mental health professional, resulted from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual haras sment which occurred while the Veteran was serving on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training.”Sexual harassment is further
  defined as “repeated, unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature which is threatening in character.”

  More concretely, MST includes any sexual activity where a Servicemember is involved against his or her will he or she may have been pressured into sexual activities (for example, with threats of negative consequences for refusing to be sexually cooperative or with implied better treatment in exchange for sex), may have been unable to consent to sexual activities (for example, when intoxicated), or may have been physically forced into sexual activities.

  Other experiences that fall into the category of MST include unwanted sexual touching or grabbing; threatening, offensive remarks about a person’s body or sexual activities; and threatening and unwelcome sexual advances. The identity or characteristics of the
  perpetrator, whether the Service member was on or off duty at the time, and
  whether he or she was on or off base at the time do not matter.
  If these experiences occurred while an individual was on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty for training, they are considered by VA
  to be MST.

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