Sexual harassment and assault experienced by reservists during military service: Prevalence and health correlates

The current investigation identified the gender- specific prevalence of sexual harassment and assault experi- enced during U.S. military service and the negative mental and physical health correlates of these experiences in a sample of former reservists. We surveyed a stratified random sample of 3,946 former reservists about their experiences during military service and their current health, including depression, posttrau- matic stress disorder, somatic symptoms, and medical condi- tions. Prevalence estimates and confidence intervals of sexual harassment and assault were calculated. A series of logistic regressions identified associations with health symptoms and conditions. Both men and women had a substantial prevalence of military sexual harassment and assault. As expected, higher proportions of female reservists reported sexual harassment (60.0% vs 27.2% for males) and sexual assault (13.1% vs 1.6% for males). For both men and women, these experiences were associated with deleterious mental and physical health condi- tions, with sexual assault demonstrating stronger associations than other types of sexual harassment in most cases. This inves- tigation is the first to document high instances of these experi- ences among reservists. These data provide further evidence that experiences of sexual harassment and assault during military service have significant implications for the healthcare needs of military veterans.