Overview

A brief overview of Military Sexual Trauma ... "about 1 in 4 women and 1 in 100 men respond "yes," that they experienced MST, when screened by their VA provider. Although rates of MST are higher among women, because there are so many more men than women in the military, there are actually significant numbers of women and men seen in VA who have experienced MST" (va.gov, 2015). Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is a term used by the VA to refer to any sexual assault or sexual harassment, which includes any sexual activity where someone is involved against their will, while the person was on active duty in the US military. This book briefly covers the history of the term and unique circumstances which sets it apart from other traumas, even other sexual traumas; at the same time affirming a finite definition. A substantial misunderstanding is that MST is a mental diagnosis. Military Sexual Trauma is an experience, not a diagnosis, you cannot "have MST," just as you cannot "have a sexual assault;" they can only be experienced. -My most frightful nightmares are not about being shot at, they are not about being in danger of an enemy ambush, they are not about an enemy trying to kill me; all over again. No, they are about the familial betrayal that one of my own, another soldier who was supposed to have my back, decided to sexually assault me. Of all the injuries I incurred in the military, the ones that cut the deepest, that have left the largest scars, have caused the most emotional and physical pain, that continually revisit me, on any day at any time, all still without my consent, is the betrayal.