What is MST?

MST is a comparatively recently documented form of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As defined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, MST- Military Sexual Trauma are experiences of sexual assault, or repeated threatening sexual harassment, that occurred while a person was in the United States Armed Forces. Occurrences.

1. A 2012 Pentagon survey found that over 26000 men and women had been subjected to sexually stressing conditions in that year, but only a little over 3000 were reported.
2. Over 550 reported cases of MST over the course of the last five years in the military of the UK.
3. According to statistics gathered and uncovered by Maclean’s magazine, about 178 complaints of military sexual assaults, on an average, were reported to the Canadian Military Police between the year 2000 and 2014 to the Canadian Military Police.
4. In 2016, a widespread survey of 43000 Canadian armed forces personnel estimated that nearly 27% of female personnel reported at least one incident of sexual assault since they joined the military, and 5% of female regular armed forces personnel reported the same in the previous 12 months (equivalent to approximately 960 women per year).

Victims.

According to American, British, Canadian and French research, though cases of men being sexually abused have been reported in the military, the number of cases among women are substantially larger. Child cadets or teenagers who offer service to the military are not untouched by this crime. About 1 in 10 complaints of assault in Canadian Armed forces reported teenage cadets as victims.

Mental Health Effects.

1. It has been statistically proven that people who suffer sexual abuse are more likely to develop mental health diseases, largely stress related, later in their life.
2. Statistics suggest that personnel who could get a definite action out of their complaints of sexual assaults are less likely to be victims of MST as compared to the personnel who got no or entirely reversed outcomes of complaints.

The case at hand.

Thae Ohu, a first-generation immigrant to America, was born in a Burmese Refugee camp in Thailand. Due to the hard life they were facing there, the family moved to the United States in hopes of revival. Five years ago, Thae was sexually assaulted by a fellow marine. As is usual, the command mishandled the case and it became a tick sucking on Thae’s mental health. Due to continued absence of support and care crucial to the treatment of PTSD, her mental health continued to deteriorate. In April 2020, following a domestic incident, Thae was arrested and was eventually sent to the brig, a military prison where she remains today. Several calls have been made by the family, including Pan Phyu, Thae’s sister and a navy sailor herself, Ahr Yu, her father, demanding mental health care for Thae even if it is provided alongside the legal proceedings that the system thinks Thae should face. Out of 12000 claims for PTSD related to MST that were made to the US Veteran Affairs, 5500 i.e., almost half, were rejected. The case has been subjected to screens of social media and media scrutiny. Quite a few movements have demanded justice for Thae Ohu, and have started a funding campaign to facilitate an aid to her mental health.

Ultimately the case resounds the need of measures for detection and prevention of sexual assaults in the military. The widespread and unrelenting numbers strengthen the fact that there is still a lingering ignorance amongst the people at higher commands, and a lack of will or fear of unrest among legislatives to frame a set of measures to curb sexual assaults.