Preventive Strategies to Mitigate Trauma Associated With Sexual Coercion in Military Environments
In today's modern world, sexual coercion is an issue that plagues both civilian and military settings. Sexual harassment refers to unwanted sexual advances or conduct that occurs when someone submits to it for fear of retaliation or is unable to resist due to his/her subordinate position in the hierarchy or is unable to consent due to physical force or psychological manipulation. It can occur in both male and female genders, but it primarily affects women because they are physically smaller than men. In the military environment, sexual coercion happens more often between superiors and their subordinates. This problem needs to be addressed as it has serious consequences, including trauma that may lead to mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, and relationship difficulties. To reduce the prevalence of this problem, different strategies need to be put into place by commanders, leaders, and officers.
Effects of Sexual Coercion on Mental Health
Sexual coercion in a military setting leads to trauma. Victims experience feelings of guilt, shame, anger, humiliation, and loss of control over their lives. They find it difficult to trust others, leading to social isolation from friends, family members, and colleagues. It also causes nightmares, flashbacks, hypervigilance, irritability, intrusive memories, negative changes in mood or behavior, and avoiding certain situations. The victims feel like they cannot express themselves fully because they are afraid of being victimized again or stigmatized. Some even contemplate leaving their careers while others suffer in silence until something drastic happens. This shows how the act of sexual coercion affects people mentally.
Preventive Strategies That Mitigate Trauma Associated With Sexual Coercion
The army should ensure that its members have access to mental health services and resources. These include counselors, therapists, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals who can help them deal with the trauma related to sexual harassment. This way, the victims will get an opportunity to heal and rebuild their self-esteem. Secondly, training programs should be put in place for soldiers so they understand what constitutes sexual coercion. Thirdly, supervisors need to intervene immediately when such incidents occur by reprimanding offenders and ensuring justice is served. Fourthly, commanders should address this problem publicly during briefings to let everyone know that it won't be tolerated. Fifthly, creating a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual coercion will send a message that perpetrators will face severe consequences if caught. Lastly, commanders should set up anonymous hotlines whereby victims can report cases without fear of retribution from the offenders.
Sexual coercion has devastating effects on the victims, leading to mental health issues.
Preventive strategies can help mitigate these effects. The military needs to provide access to mental health services, create awareness about the issue, train members on how to handle sexual harassment, reprimand offenders immediately, publicize the act, enforce zero-tolerance policies, and set up anonymous hotlines. By doing all this, the army will reduce the prevalence of sexual coercion, which leads to trauma, thereby increasing its effectiveness and productivity.
How can preventative strategies mitigate trauma associated with sexual coercion in military environments?
Sexual coercion is a widespread problem that has been found in every branch of the US armed forces. Studies show that most soldiers do not report their experiences due to fear of retaliation and stigma, leading to underreporting and lack of awareness about this issue (McKinley et al. , 2019). To address this problem, there are several preventative strategies that could be implemented.