WASHINGTON — The military needs to improve how it handles the needs of service members who are victims of unwanted sexual behavior, according to the Government Accountability Office.
A new GAO report says personnel who experience sexual trauma are "more likely to separate from the military, exacerbating DOD's critical recruitment and retention challenges."
"There's a stigma of reporting. There's a stigma of getting the health. There's a stigma of your peers even knowing what's happening. So, that stigma is definitely playing out," said GAO Defense Capabilities and Management team Director Brenda Farrell, in an interview with 13News Now.
The report says the Defense Department needs to improve patient confidentiality and privacy as well as access to care for victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and domestic sexual abuse. The GAO found service members who had reported unwanted sexual behavior left the military "at substantially higher rates than the overall active-duty population."
The report says from fiscal years 2015 through 2021, more than 350,000 veterans and service members screened positive for trauma related to experiences with unwanted sexual behavior.
"You will see the impact of not being able to take care of these people can have on exactly medical readiness, force readiness, and being able to accomplish their mission," said Farrell.
The GAO conducted its audit from August 2021 to August 2023 after Congress asked the agency to review the state of behavioral health in the military and service members’ experiences with unwanted sexual behavior.