A major push by the Department of Veterans Affairs to encourage veterans to file claims for service-related sexual assault has led to an increase in those claims and higher approval ratings.
According to VA officials, the department received 57,400 claims for military sexual trauma in fiscal 2024, up 18% from the previous year, and approved more than 63% of them, up from roughly 40% more than a decade ago.
According to Kenesha Britton, the VA's assistant deputy under secretary for field operations, the VA has held 3,500 events in the past 14 months focused on benefits for victims of military sexual assault and harassment.
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"We recognize the remarkable courage it takes for survivors of military sexual trauma to seek the benefits and support they've earned," Britton said Thursday during a press conference in Washington, D.C. "Our mission is driven by a commitment to ensure survivors are met with care, dignity and sensitivity throughout the claims process."
Britton said the Veterans Benefits Administration, which handles veterans disability compensation, pensions and other benefits like the GI Bill, has worked with the Veterans Health Administration -- the medical arm of the VA -- to incorporate sensitivity training and awareness into the process and endeavored to improve records collection from the Defense Department on military sexual trauma cases.
According to a report from the Watson Institute of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, from 2001 to 2021, 24% of active-duty women and 1.9% of active-duty men experienced sexual assault.
VA Under Secretary for Benefits Josh Jacobs said efforts to increase veterans' trust in the department have contributed to the rise in claims and requests for trauma-related mental health counseling and support.
"As a byproduct of the outreach we have done, more veterans are coming in to apply for benefits, and I think that has to do with building trust because we are actively trying to reach veterans telling them we want to connect them with their earned benefits," Jacobs said.
Earlier this year, the Defense Department announced that 7,000 fewer service members reported being sexual assault in 2023 compared with 2021. According to the Pentagon's annual report on sexual assault, 29,000 active-duty members -- roughly 15,000 women and 14,000 men -- were sexually assaulted last year.
On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that cases of sexual assault also were down at the service academies, although polling found that women at the academies are still reluctant to report incidents to their leadership. According to the data, of 783 cadets who experienced an assault, only 103 actually filed a report.
In 2024, the percentage of women who experienced unwanted sexual contact at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Naval Academy and Air Force Academy fell to about 13% compared to about 21% last year, according to the Pentagon data.
