![]() ![]() Collect records you still have in your possession. Find contact addresses and phone numbers. Only you are going to know how to identify which of these people or places might have records to support your claim. These include reports made to a chaplain or clergy, civilian counseling facility or health clinic, rape crisis center, faculty, family members or roommates, fellow service members, civilian medical records, civilian law enforcement records, or personal journals or diaries. These non-military records can be located and submitted as part of your MST-related VA disability claim. Often a survivor of a rape or other sexual trauma will reach out to someone or some agency outside of the military to confide their secret. The VA will accept other types of records to prove the occurrence of a sexual trauma event. If the easiest way isn’t available, that’s okay, there are other ways to prove your case. It’s hard to get precise numbers, but some research suggests that at least 25% of victims do not report for fear of retaliation, and widespread belief that reports will not be taken seriously or handled fairly. However, a large number of military sexual assaults and harassment never get reported. The easiest way to prove military sexual trauma occurrred is through service records that contain explicit reference to it, medical or personnel records that cite it, DOD sexual assault or harassment reporting forms, and/or other military investigative reports of the incident. In evaluating a military sexual trauma VA disability claim, the VA examiners will be looking at three things: (1) do you, the veteran, have a current disabling condition (often with MST-claims, this is PTSD) (2) is it the result of, or aggravated by, something that happened during military service (for example, an MST) and (3) is there a link between the two?Įvidence establishing may be direct or indirect, but if you know what to look for, you can start the process of finding and compiling those records to submit to the VA. do I need prepared? Is there anything I can do to make it go through more smoothly? Your “disability” is the current mental or physical condition you are experiencing proving military sexual trauma to the VA in this context is about demonstrating the existence of the traumatic event and the nexus between it and your current condition and symptoms. Remember that the MST claim process is almost the same as for other types of disability. ![]() Proving MST to the VA as part of a VA disability claim application may seem a mammoth task, particularly if you did not make a formal report at the time of occurrence, but even if you didn’t make a formal report, there is evidence that may help you prove your claim. ![]() How Do I Prove Military Sexual Trauma to The VA? Instead, it can be a trigger for some type of health condition, often PTSD. To receive VA disability compensation related to MST, you must have a current physical or mental health condition connected to those experiences. Examples the VA cites are being pressured or coerced into sexual activities, such as with promises or threats, non-consensual sexual conduct (such as when you were asleep or intoxicated), being forced to have sex, being touched in a sexual way that made you uncomfortable, comments about your body or sexual activities that you found threatening, or unwanted sexual advances you found threatening. What is Military Sexual Trauma – VA DefinitionĪccording to the VA, the term MST means sexual assault or sexual harassment experienced during military service. This article will outline various ways of proving your case. A high proportion of military sexual trauma (MST) survivors do not make any formal report about what happened to them, and as time passes they find that the trauma continues to affect them.Īs they (maybe you) sit down to prepare to file a VA disability claim, that nagging question may return, this time phased “how do I prove military sexual trauma to the VA”? “Will anyone believe me?” That is the question that goes through the mind of almost everyone who has endured a sexual assault or sexual harassment. ![]()
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