El Hombre Invisible: UK Male Veterans Share Their Experiences of Military Sexual Trauma.

Its interesting that for generations, the UK Ministry of Defence has failed to recognise that male military sexual assault victims actually exist, or that it has a duty of care to ensure that those victim/survivors have access to timely, trauma informed support and therapeutic interventions and/or compensation. Over in the USA it is estimated that about 10,000 men serving in the military have been sexually assaulted over the decades. Overwhelmingly, the victims are young and low-ranking. Like the veterans in this report, many struggle when they leave the military and have trouble accessing trauma informed support to help address their multiple and complex and unmet needs in civilian life.

In total we interviewed 30 male survivors of MST aged between 37 to 69 years. 17 veterans classed themselves as single, 10 were married and 3 were in a civil partnership. The majority of those interviewed had served in the Army 53.33% (n16) with 30% (n9) serving in the Royal Navy and 16.67% (n5) serving in the Royal Air Force. Average length of service across the sample was between 2-17 years.

Warning: The content of this report may be emotionally challenging for some people and the lived experience ‘first person’ narratives of sexual assault may be potentially triggering.

https://www.forward-assist.com/s/THE-INVISIBLE-MAN-PDF-Verison-10.pdf

Minister of State (Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) The Rt Hon Johnny Mercer MP Visits Forward Assist HQ

We were delighted to host a visit from Johnny Mercer MP at the Forward Assist Veterans Health & Wellbeing Hub. During the visit, Minister Mercer met with Team Salute Her UK and had an in depth discussion on our mutual research papers into the long-term impact of sexual assault on both women and men during military service. We thanked the Minister for funding our next research project looking into the correlation between Military Sexual Trauma and suicidal ideation which starts later this month.

MACE Magazine Article: Protecting Our Armed Forces by Dolly Theis.

In 2021, Forward Assist, a military veterans charity,  published its report, “El Hombre Invisible”. It is one of the most painful reports I have ever read. I can barely get through a few pages without feeling my body tighten and experiencing a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. 

“El Hombre Invisible” includes harrowing stories from 30 male military veterans, revealing sexual abuse, harassment and rape whilst serving in the British Armed Forces. I was already well aware of the similarly horrific experiences of women veterans. I helped promote Forward Assist’s joint 2019 report “No Man’s Land” with Salute Her – a female veterans charity – to politicians in the UK (we received a very lukewarm response). “No Man’s Land” also detailed the sexual offences and silencing experienced by women. Learning about the sexual offences stories from so many men woke me from my lazy assumption that rape is predominantly a women’s issue.

Read More Here: https://macemagazine.com/dolitics-protecting-our-armed-forces/

Forward Assist Create LGBTQ+ Veteran Care Coordinator Role

Forward Assist & Salute Her UK have always welcomed members of the LGBTQ+ community to access its services. We are delighted to have over 100 veterans that identify as LGBTQ+ and as well as setting up a virtual LGBTQ+ support group we are also carrying out a consultation exercise with the LGBTQ+ veteran community to ensure any services we create are needs led, person centred and designed for demand. If you are interested in accessing any of the above mentioned projects or groups please email Nicole Dodd at nicole@forward-assist.com

The Family Secret: How Rape is Hushed Up in Britain’s Armed Forces

Salute Her UK supported and continue to engage with and offer trauma informed therapy to the women survivors of military sexual assault featured in this journalistic article by Isobel Thompson.

It’s hard to assess the full extent of sexual assault within Britain’s armed forces. The figures that do exist are almost certainly an underestimate – as they tend to be with sexual assault in civilian life – because many people never report what has happened to them. The hierarchical nature of the armed forces, in which reporting an abuse is often seen as subversive, particularly discourages victims from speaking up. Around 10% of people in the armed forces are women; only 5% of senior officers are.

A growing body of court cases, reports and testimonies from individuals in the forces indicates the scale of the problem. In 2012 Channel 4 News obtained details of an internal investigation in the British Army which suggested that all of the 400 women interviewed had received unwanted sexual attention and that many felt an “over-riding” lack of trust in the ability of senior officers to handle complaints about such concerns.

Read More Here: https://www.economist.com/interactive/1843/2022/04/28/the-family-secret-british-army-abuse?utm_content=article-link-3&etear=nl_today_3&utm_campaign=a.the-economist-today&utm_medium=email.internal-newsletter.np&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=4/29/2022&utm_id=1151071

Shocking 'Sex Abuse' of Men During Military Initiation Ceremony's

A report by North East veterans charity Forward Assist has revealed a grim catalogue of sexual abuse including rape against male servicemen in the military.

Researchers interviewed 30 male survivors aged 41 to 58 from across the UK of what they described as Military Sexual Trauma (MST).

It involved incidents like new recruits being tied down and a black bag containing a nauseous concoction of various bodily fluids mixed with alcohol produced.

"Young soldiers would be held down and forced to drink it," the researchers were told.

"The initiation gang was made up of Commissioned Officers, NCOs and other soldiers. I wouldn't take part and that was my downfall and I was raped."

Mike Kelly’s Coverage can be read here.
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/shocking-sex-abuse-men-armed-23169898

Dedicated Trauma Informed Support Service Available for Male & Female Veterans Affected By Military Sexual Trauma (MST)

As a result of the unprecedented requests for support from both men and women veterans over the last 15 months we have now initiated a dedicated support service for male victims/survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (Abuse). Team Salute Her will continue to offer specialist trauma informed interventions for serving women and veterans, as they continue to campaign for systemic change, awareness and understanding of the long term impact sexual abuse in the military has on survivors both during and after service. Forward Assist will work exclusively with male victims/survivors and will in the coming months employ a dedicated team of support staff to address these issues. Similarly , we have created training materials for Healthcare professionals and those working in the service charity sector.