April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and for its SAAM activities this year, VA has adopted a national theme of You’re Not Alone.
This year’s theme was a natural choice, to build on the new outreach poster we debuted in the fall, says Susan McCutcheon, RN, EdD, who has national program responsibility for MST within the Veterans Health Administration.
VA Supports Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma. Anyway, while threatening sexual harassment experienced during active duty or active duty for training, military sexual trauma is the term used by VA to refer to sexual assault or repeated. Therefore, each VA Medical Center has a designated MST Coordinator who serves as a contact person for ‘MSTrelated’ problems at the facility and can about their experiences of MST.
Now this includes outpatient, inpatient, residential, and pharmaceutical care, and the services are available at each VA health care facility. Veterans should receive free MSTrelated care even if they are not eligible for other VA services. We need to be fully aware of that and provide services for both men and women. We shouldn’t forget about the men who experienced this, said Dr. They often feel that way…This ain’t just a women’s issue, that’s a big problem for both genders. Let them know that they are not alone. Now regarding the aforementioned fact… Actually, in 2012 2013″, 1 in 4 female Veterans and 1 in 100 male Veterans who were seen for VA health care had reported a history of MST when screened by their VA provider. Dana Foley PhD, a VA MST Coordinator from the Oklahoma VAMC, commented on the particular applicability of this year’s SAAM theme to men. Foley. VA’s national SAAM theme for this year is designed to address the secrecy that can sometimes surround MST, to a single one who experienced MST or that they’re all alone. Eventually, there’s hope, and the hope is here at the VA, adds Leathem.
MST survivors suffer in silence and suffer alone.
Later in the month, the medical center will host a play involving Veterans’ stories about surviving MST.
They shouldn’t live with the shame, the fear, and the guilt. Usually, throughout the second week of April, the Northport VAMC will host a Clothesline Project in which Veterans who experienced MST create T shirts with designs and messages about their experiences, and after all display the T shirts in the lobby of the medical center to raise awareness. Generally, james Leathem, LCSW, MST Coordinator at the Northport VAMC, shared play is so followed by a candlelight ceremony, to shed light on the darkness, Leathem says. Let me tell you something. Veterans who had similar experiences.
Knowing that SAAM provides a natural opportunity to show support for Veterans who experienced MST, VA’s MST Coordinators make extra efforts to host awarenessraising and outreach events during April.
For more information about VA’s services, Veterans can speak with a VA health care provider, contact the MST Coordinator at their nearest VA medical center, or contact their local Vet Center.
VA and Vet Center facilities can be found at and Veterans can also learn more about VA’s MST related services online at and see video clips with stories of recovery from Veterans who experienced MST at maketheconnection.net/storiesofconnection/’military sexual trauma’.