Twice Betrayed: Women Veterans and Military Sexual Trauma

I started a group over on YouTube
Speaking out on PTSD
Videos: 16 Members: 6 0 Discussions
PTSD is a wound. No one would be ashamed of a bullet wound. Why be ashamed of this wound? End the silence and break the stigma.

The videos in this group are about PTSD with the bulk of them, PTSD from combat.

Two of the videos on this group are about women at war and afterwards.

The Voice Women At War09:49
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 709

Women At War08:02
From:NamGuardianAngelViews: 8,838

I am what people call empathic because I can get into the pain others feel.

Main Entry: em·pa·thy
Function: noun
Pronunciation: 'em-p&-the
Etymology: Greek empatheia, literally, passion, from empathes emotional, from em- + pathos feelings, emotion -- more at PATHOS
1 : the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2 : the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner ; also : the capacity for this

This annoyed the hell out of my husband until he finally got used to it. It came out one day early in our relationship. He got really angry "How dare you get into my world? You weren't there! I was!" I told him that he's the one who opened the door to let me in. I didn't ask to get into his world, into the pain, into the sadness any more than I asked for the rest of what came with entering.

For the following post from Lily over at Healing Combat Trauma to really sink in, just for this moment, try to be empathic. Close your eyes for a second and then pretend you were willing to die for the sake of your country. You trained to do the job you would need to do in Vietnam, in Kuwait, in Afghanistan or in Iraq. You live, eat, train with the men who were also willing to lay down their lives for the same country. The warrior ethos reverberates in your ears. You know you can trust those you serve with, with your life, but what you can't do is to trust them with your honor. You cannot trust them to not view you as an object. You know you can trust most of them but things have gotten so out of control, you wonder who is sizing you up next to other women so they can attack you and rape you.

This has been a problem in the military for a very long time. It's not just the attacks or the harassment a few in the military inflict, because of what is not reported in the media enough. Women stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, in over 100 degrees of heat, stop drinking fluids early in the day. This damages their body as they dehydrate. Why are they doing this? To avoid having to go to the latrine in the middle of the night. They are that fearful of attacks. It's one thing to have to fear being attacked by the enemy or a roadside bomb. It's another to have to fear the others who have your life in their hands as well as weapons to use against you. This is a very serious problem and needs serious attention. Rape is a crime and should be treated like it but rape in the military should be treated as more severe than in civilian life. If you have any empathy in you at all, can picture yourself in the same position then pick up the phone and contact your congressman or congresswoman. They are all home now and need to hear from you.

August 07, 2008
Twice Betrayed: Women Veterans and Military Sexual Trauma
It's my deep-seated belief that women veterans who suffer military sexual trauma risk being twice betrayed: once by their perpetrator in uniform, once by the system itself, which should be doing a much better job of protecting them from a problem that's too apparent, widespread, and part of the actual culture to pretend that it doesn't exist.

See Jeff Benedict on this:
"But an occupation that thrives on a unique capacity for aggression among participants runs the risk of being a home for troubled men who cannot contain their rage against the opposite sex." -- Jeff Benedict, author of "Public Heroes, Private Felons"
Preventing Psychological Injury, Betrayal and Trauma: The Real “Costs” and “Treatment” of Military Sexual Trauma

Sometimes I think I miss the point on some of these blog posts: I’m too busy trying to set the stage and establish the “milieu” so that a thoughtful person can absorb it all and come away with a new outlook or two on a “same old” problem. But maybe I’m failing to come right out and say what I’m really thinking, and God knows enough people are floundering around on this topic who shouldn’t be, so maybe I just will. Here goes the suddenly editorial portion of our program:

We heard Jonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D., pretty much the foremost expert nationally on veterans and PTSD, talk the other day about the “psychological injury” that troops are exposed to from lack of sleep, before and after combat, and how that sets them up for significant problems. True; agreed; understood. What we’re talking about here with women in the military and military sexual trauma is a similar thing: preventing and treating what is a grievous psychological injury – and one like what Shay talks about, something where the proverbial “ounce of prevention” is worth the “pound of cure.” Shay is remarkable: he’s one of a kind. There’s probably no better advocate for veterans in the country, although anyone who works with veterans from the heart is worthy of great honor. It’s a pretty much unsung, undervalued calling.
go here for more

http://www.healingcombattrauma.com/2008/08/twice-
betrayed-women-veterans-and-military-sexual-trauma-1.html