Male victims of sexual assault in the military are getting special consideration in the newest legislation sponsored by U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas.

The Lowell Democrat, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, has already introduced several bills that were later passed into law addressing sexual assault in the military, as well as body armor for female troops.

Last week, she and Republican Rep. Mike Turner from Ohio’s 10th District introduced the SUPPORT Act, which stands for the Support Uniformed Patriots; Prevent Offenses and Restore Trust Act.

The SUPPORT Act addresses several aspects of sexual assault in the military, including efforts to stop retaliation against troops who report the sexual assault. One of those aspects is to encourage more male victims of sexual assault to come forward by changing the way service members are trained about the issue.

There are a high number of male victims of sexual assault in the military, even when compared to female victim numbers, according to Tsongas’ office. While individual women in the military are more likely to be victimized, men make up a much larger percentage of the military itself, and are far less likely to report when sexually assaulted.

Tsongas’ office highlighted a March report by the Government Accountability Office that found that in 2014, 4,104 females and 1,180 men reported sexual assaults to the Department of Defense. The study said 40 percent or more of female victims reported the sexual assault, while at most, 13 percent of male victims reported the assault.

The report estimated that in 2014, between 9,000 and 13,000 male service members were victims of sexual assault, and those victims have different traumatic responses than female victims, such as questioning their own masculinity and sexuality.

The report says that until 2013, the Department of Defense defined rape as “the carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” The survey defined sexual assault as unwanted sexual contact. It estimated that in cases with male victims, between 2,500 and 5,500 were penetrative sexual assaults in 2014.

The SUPPORT Act would also provide medical and mental-health services to male victims and develop new metrics to research and combat male victimization.

Other aspects of the SUPPORT Act include extending sexual-assault prevention and response training to Reserve Officer Training Corps programs, requiring the DOD to develop a strategy against retaliation for those who report sexual assaults; give civilian employees of the DOD access to the Special Victims Counsel program; enhance the Special Victims Counsel program; change the military justice system to “ensure fair and equal treatment” across the services; and require a court order to release the mental-health records of a sexual-assault victim.

“Congressman Turner and I have long shared a commitment to examining and enacting the changes needed to bring effective resources and protections to survivors and the SUPPORT Act continues to build on this effort,” Tsongas said in a written statement. “The SUPPORT Act forces DOD to confront uncomfortable issues head-on, like retaliation and the stigma surrounding male victimization, which erode confidence in the system and discourage women and men from reporting.”

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