Will Uncle Sam foot the bill for military sexual trauma
The 94th Annual Veterans Day Parade in New York City, 2013.Credit…Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
In June 2026 a bipartisan bill was introduced to the Senate that would allow troops to sue the Department of Defense for sexual assault and harassment that was endured while serving on active duty.
For far too long U.S. service members have had their hands tied when it comes to seeking compensation for the horrible things they endured while serving in the military. The Military Sexual Assault Accountability Act would allow service members and veterans to bring civil suits against the United States for sexual assault and harassment that was a result of complacency and negligence.
Due to a 1950s Supreme Court ruling, U.S. service members were barred from suing the U.S. Government for injuries that they received while serving in the military. Despite this ruling, in 2019 the SFC Richard Stayskal Military Medical Accountability Act was passed allowing service members and their families to sue for medical malpractice that occurred on active duty. This opened the doors for more exceptions to the Feres Doctrine.
The bipartisan Bill is sponsored by U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, and John Kennedy (R-LA). They plan on pushing this Bill for an exception for the Feres Doctrine which would hold the DoD accountable for sexual misconduct in the military, complacency when it comes to the sexual assault culture, and the poorly conducted investigations thereafter.
“In recent years, Congress has taken meaningful steps to help empower service members to report instances of sexual assault and harassment, but in order to build on that progress and root out the negligence that has allowed for sexual harassment and assault to thrive in our military, survivors must be able to pursue every possible avenue for legal recourse,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH). Our landmark legislation would right this wrong by tearing down the barriers that prevent members of the military and veterans from engaging the justice system to demand accountability and finally begin to heal,” Shaheen said in a statement.
This Act has a strong backing from several prominent veteran organizations that include the American Legion, the Disabled Veterans of America, WOVEN, and Protect Our Defenders.
According to Protect Our Defenders, 38% of female and 4% of male military personnel and veterans have experienced military sexual trauma (MST). More than 1 in 4 survivors of MST took steps to leave the military after the incident happened.
