Our SWAN efforts to hold military leadership accountable for
rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment in the ranks are making
significant headway both in terms of litigation and legislative reform.
However, bias against victims and a desire to sweep incidents under the rug
remain a continued threat to victims and an obstacle to institutional
progress.
I want to talk to you today about the issue of Personality
Disorders. In recent weeks, SWAN has been hearing from increasing numbers
of active duty women and men whose careers have ended after reporting their
rapes and assaults. In these cases, servicemembers have been sexually
assaulted, and then almost immediately after reporting their attacks, have
been diagnosed by military medical providers with a "Personality
Disorder."
Why should we care? Personality Disorders make one
ineligible for military service as well as veterans' benefits. Rape and
assault survivors who are diagnosed with this condition are then routinely
discharged from service. Their careers end practically overnight.
What I want to emphasize here is that Personality Disorders
are pre-existing conditions that do not appear out of the blue. As we have
seen with combat veterans, sexual assault survivors are often times
misdiagnosed with Personality Disorder, instead of being properly diagnosed
with PTSD or another medical condition that accurately reflects their
symptoms.
Let's be clear. In the cases we are talking about, at both
Military Academies and throughout the military itself, these are not
diagnoses that correlate with the facts of a servicemember's military or
medical record. In fact, all evidence suggests in these cases that the
diagnosis of a Personality Disorder is meted out to a military sexual
assault survivor as retaliation.
It appears to be a way for the military to get rid of troops who are simply
reporting a violent crime committed by a fellow servicemember.
SWAN is working with legislators to ensure that the military
will never again be able to get rid of sexual assault survivors as if they
are dead weight. But we need your help. If you would be so kind as to
forward these questions to your networks, so that we can properly examine
and identify cases of negligence, we would be truly grateful:
1.
Are you a veteran who suffered a sexual assault while in the
military and was subsequently diagnosed with a Personality Disorder by
military medical personnel and discharged because of it?
2.
Do you consider your diagnosis itself to be a form of
retaliation related to your sexual assault?
3.
Have you been denied VA benefits because of this diagnosis?
4.
Have you unsuccessfully attempted to have this diagnosis
changed or removed from your records by consulting with another military
doctor, a VA doctor, or a private mental health provider?
5.
Have you successfully had the diagnosis removed from your
records and still had your disability claim denied by the VA even though
you have another diagnosis (such as PTSD) that is related to military
sexual assault?
If you answered YES to the
first question AND any subsequent questions, please contact us at peersupport@servicewomen.org with
your story.
Many thanks for your continued support,
Anu Bhagwati
Executive Director, Service Women's Action Network
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