In 2006 I was contacted by a male veteran asking me to write a book on the topic of sexual abuse in the military. While servicing he had been sexually assaulted by several male comrades. At the time he was afraid to report the crime because he feared he would be seen as a homosexual rather than a victim and discharged. He thought I might be interested in the topic because I had already written and edited several books on the issue of the sexual abuse of males. Whenever possible I like to include first person accounts in my books to illustrate the damage abuse causes in the lives of victims in a way that percentages and other numbers can’t describe. I assumed that when I asked veterans to tell their stories they would inquire, “in what branch of the military did you serve?” I imagined that once I informed them that I had never served that would be the end of the conversation. Never the less I sent out e-mails and posted notices on bulletin boards announcing the project. In no time at all I began to get e-mails from veterans, and sure enough the first thing they wanted to know was if I was veteran. However, to my surprise when they learned I wasn’t they all agreed to speak with me. Over and over I heard, “If you were military I wouldn’t talk to you, because you wouldn’t believe me.” After gathering the graphic stories of abuse from six women and four men I began what turned out to be a long search for a publisher. Fifty publishers turned me down; all claimed the book was “important, but not right for us at this time.” When I pressed them I was told, “The wars in the Middle East aren’t going well, so we don’t want to damage the moral of the troops,” or “Now that the wars are going better we don’t want to under mine the effort by calling attention to this problem.”

When at last Barricade Books released Honor Betrayed: Sexual Abuse In America’s Military I thought the mainstream media would be eager to report on it, particularly since this was about the same time the stories of wounded veterans being given substandard medical treatment was making headlines. But nearly every reporter I contacted told me that one in four female and one in ten male veterans being sexually assaulted wasn’t news. The three reporters who were concerned enough to interview me were later told by their editors and producers that it wasn’t “news worthy.”

As scandalous than the mere fact that the incidence of sexual assault in military settings is three times higher than in civilian settings is the way veterans are treated when they report being assaulted. In case after case I was told the most disturbing aspect of their experience was not the actual assault but the sense of betrayed they felt due to the way their comrades and superiors treated them when they learned the crime had been reported. The survivors referred to this as their “second victimization.”

Statistically, if you know ten veterans of any era then you know a sexual assault survivor. How can the military, politicians, and the general public all turn a blind eye to the suffering of these veterans? What ever happened to supporting our troops? We don’t need another study; for decades now after every study promises have been made, but little has been done to reduce the number of assaults and to provide treatment for the victims. If you want to do something to help these unacknowledged casualties contact your Congressional representatives and demand that the military and the Veterans Administration take meaningful action. Ask your local media why they aren’t reporting on this issue. Use your voice to speak for those who volunteered to defend your country.