Military veteran says Defense Department isn’t doing enough to help sexual assault victims
Reported military assaults are still on the rise: An 8% increase over the past year.
But that could be because of changes in the way those sexual assaults are handled.
The Pentagon says the rules have encouraged more people to come forward.
One of victim says the procedure for reporting abuse may have slightly improved, but there’s still a long way to go.
He hopes that sharing his experience will help others come forward, and stop a destructive trend.
“Thing is, men are victims, they can be harassed by females and males. It’s happened to me, it took ten years to get treatment,” said Scott, a military veteran who didn’t want to give his name.
He served his country for over a decade.
But what happened in that time was a nightmare he still relives.
“I have days I don’t sleep even with medications. The pentagon is wrong. And if a congressman is listening, I would be happy to talk to him right now,” he said.
When our crews told him about the Pentagon’s latest report, that the number of reported assaults increased 8%, he didn’t believe it.
He thinks the number is much higher.
“My situation never got reported. My C.O. was too worried about losing his job when all of these incidents happened right in front of them,” Scott said. “Yet when I went up the chain of command, my life was threatened, my career was threatened, my wife was threatened. But we fought things through. I needed my job, my livelihood and I wanted to say I served my country.”
He says he contemplated suicide at times, but thanks to his family, he made it through and hopes real change will come soon.
“That men are coming forward and the senior enlisted would quit worrying about losing their jobs and threatening the people that are victims,” Scott said. “If my voice can help another man come forth and say, hey, I’m not the only one, then maybe more will come forth.”
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel also announced four directives Thursday to improve the prevention and response programs.
They include customized prevention efforts for certain installations and publicizing resources for victims.
