Jackie Speier: “Since I began working on this issue of military sexual assault 3 years ago, I've had the opportunity to speak to over…”

“Since I began working on this issue of military sexual assault 3 years ago, I've had the opportunity to speak to over 100 courageous survivors of rape. With each of their experiences, there is a unique nature to them. But many of these survivors that decided to report these crimes have had a very similar experience after they reported: they were retaliated against, ostracized, and involuntarily separated from the military on the grounds of a personality or adjustment disorder. Mental health diagnoses are grossly misused to administratively discharge or retaliate against survivors of sexual assault and other servicemembers. Since 2001, the military has discharged more than 31,000 servicemembers on the grounds that they were subject to a personality disorder. A GAO investigation found that 22 to 60 percent of the time personality disorders were either not diagnosed by a trained psychiatrist or psychologist, or there was undue command influence. This pattern has become a potent lesson to servicemembers that are assaulted: report and get kicked out of the military with a personality disorder diagnosis. This designation amounts to a scarlet letter, pinned where their medals should be, and follows them for the rest of their lives. These servicemembers are re-victimized every time they apply for a job and submit their DD214s. It also makes it virtually impossible to retain a security clearance.…”