Trauma, Military Sexual

Military sexual trauma (MST) refers to unwanted sexual attention of a harmful nature (physical or verbal) experienced by men and women in the military. The definition is broad and covers a wide range of behaviors from sexual harassment (unwanted sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature) to sexual assault (rape, inappropriate sexual contact, or attempts to commit these acts). The event may occur on or off a military installation, in a combat zone, or stateside, or it may be a form of torture of a prisoner of war. MST is a term that is used widely in the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), where harmful effects of sexual harassment and sexual assault are placed in one ...