Over two weeks, the Pentagon has suffered a string of embarrassments in its effort to show progress in curbing sexual assault within the ranks.
A Defense Department anonymous survey estimated a 35 percent increase in sexual assault and related offenses in the military over two years.
Meanwhile, three service members who directed or managed sexual assault prevention programs have been caught up in investigations that range from groping a woman in a parking lot, to pimping, to violating a protection from abuse order.
Members of Congress have called for legislation, and President Obama characterized the problem as a "scourge" after summoning military leaders to the Oval Office.
But in Hampton Roads, where thousands of active-duty troops and veterans live, the problem is nothing new.
Since October, the Hampton VA Medical Center has seen 400 people who say they suffer from military sexual trauma, or MST, a catch-all term that includes sexual assault, unwanted touching, sexual coercion or harassment.
Those veterans have required some 2,300 appointments.
Psychologist Stephanie Eppinger, who coordinates the program, said the MST patients represent about 25 percent of the women and about 1 percent of the men who seek care at the center. That tracks the national average.
The group cuts across all ages, indicative of how difficult it can be for victims to come forward and seek help.
"We see people in their fifties and sixties, and this is the first time they are coming in for treatment," she said.
Military sexual trauma can lead to post traumatic stress disorder, depression, alcohol or drug abuse and problems with relationships or one's own sexuality, Eppinger said. And while it may be difficult to come forward, the Hampton VA makes it relatively easy. When patients first enter the system, they are asked if they suffer from military sexual trauma. If they say yes and want to be treated, they will be, Eppinger said. There is no verification process, nothing that they have to prove.
An important distinction: Receiving disability compensation for MST-related problems does require proof and verification, and can take quite some time. That's the Veterans Benefits Administration. The hospital falls under the Veterans Health Administration, and its rules are different.
"To get treatment, you just have to raise your hand," she said.
Even that can be easier said than done.
"It can be highly sensitive for people to talk about," said Dr. Priscilla Hankins, chief of mental health. "Sometimes, the first time they come forward with details is when they are in a setting where they feel safe. Sometimes, you don't even get the whole story for months and months, as the trust builds."
U.S. military leaders say they are striving to change the culture in the uniformed services. Many times, victims say they are reluctant to press their cases out of fear of retribution, or because so few cases result in jail time.
Eppinger was asked whether the culture in the military has changed.
"Not so much, not that I've heard," she said. "I think it's still an extremely touchy situation. The reports in the media about the need to change the culture ... there is a need to change the culture."
No accountability?
Sherry Kurtz joined the Army out of high school and planned to make it a career. That changed one night in 1984 while she was stationed in Germany.
While looking for her boyfriend, she ran into a group of male soldiers who offered her a drink. The next thing she knew, she woke up on a bed with men holding her down, and she was assaulted.
"When it was over, the one lifted me up, and what he said to me was, 'you're still my little sis, right?' That's how the mentality is. It's like your brother or sister at arms," she said during a phone interview with the Daily Press from her home in Ohio.
She pressed her case, wanting to prosecute the men. The case dragged on for over a year, and Kurtz said she suffered for it.
"Every day I saw them," she said. "I had people coming up to me all the time (and asking) 'why would you want to ruin their lives?' "
She became pregnant from the repeated rapes of that night. She could not name the father because at least six men were over her. She recalled being driven off base one night in an Army van to a German doctor who performed an abortion.
Even though she pressed the case up the chain of command, she ran into roadblocks. The perpetrators belonged to a different unit, and when officers of that unit got involved, the case went nowhere, she said.
"That's where it stalled, when their sergeant and commander got involved," she said.
Kurtz voluntarily dropped the case after fearing for her own sanity. She left the Army and today works as a receptionist and is considered 100 percent disabled by the VA — although that classification took years to achieve.
The men at the center of her story were never punished.
Change of structure
Kurtz recently began telling her story with the help of members of SWAN, the Service Women's Action Network. The organization has thrown its support behind legislation introduced last week that would address exactly the problem Kurtz faced.
The bill would steer serious cases out of the accuser's chain of command. Officers with prosecutorial experience would decide if it should go forward. It would also restrict a commander's ability to overturn or set aside a court martial conviction, similar to a proposal made by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
"The current commander-based system is a throwback to the days of the Revolutionary War and was established at a time when military courts did not even exist," said Anu Bhagwati, SWAN executive director and a former Marine Corps captain. "The military does not send our troops into battle with 18th century weapons, nor does it treat wounds of war with 18th century medicine, so why does today's military continue to use an 18th century legal system?"
Source: Daily Press
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