Thousands of victims of sexual assault in the US Military have been unfairly discharged, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] report [text] Thursday. The 128-page report, the result of a 28-month investigation with the support of Protect Our Defenders [advocacy website], found [press release] that many victims were discharged for a variety of mental health reasons that made them ineligible for benefits. According to the report, these “other than honorable” discharges impact the service members’ health care, employment, child custody, disability payments and burial rights among other areas. “Bad paper,” a term for an “other than honorable” discharge, has been correlated with high rates of suicide, homelessness and imprisonment. Furthermore, the report notes that under US law, service members are unable to sue the military for harm suffered and the Boards for Correction of Military Records and Discharge Review Boards are often overwhelmed with cases. Due to this, over 90 percent of claims are rejected with no opportunity for review and little to no judicial oversight. HRW urged Congress to create a right to a hearing before the Boards for Correction of Military Records, make this information more available to the public, and create a committee to study the standards for granting relief and determine procedure.

The treatment of veterans has been heavily criticized over the past several years. The military has come under scrutiny [JURIST op-ed] over the last decade about its treatment of veterans with mental trauma such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Veteran Affairs office has also been heavily criticized for its failures in providing adequate care to veterans. In 2015 President Barack Obama announced [JURIST report] the creation of a new advisory committee to improve conditions in the VA. The committee consists of business leaders, members of veteran organizations and health science professionals with a diverse range of experience. He also signed [JURIST report] the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act [HR 5059] into law in order to combat increasing suicide rates among American veterans suffering form PTSD. The act was passed by a unanimous Congress and is intended to facilitate veterans’ access to mental health resources, as studies have shown that suicide rates are higher among those who do not receive any type of mental health care. In 2014 Obama signed [JURIST report] the Department of Veterans Affairs Management Accountability Act of 2014 [bill summary] to allow veterans to seek private care outside of VA facilities and provide money for the VA to hire more doctors and nurses. In 2013 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] reported that the VA grants disability claims for PTSD caused by in-service sexual trauma at significantly lower rates [JURIST report] than it has granted claims for PTSD arising from other causes.