美国国家公共电台 NPR More Vets Who Are Coping With PTSD From Sexual Assaults Get Honorable Discharges

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Sexual assault is still a major issue for the U.S. military. Reports rose 10 percent last year though there is some discussion about whether that's an increase in the number of assaults or increased willingness of troops to report them. Victims of rape¹ in the military often don't speak up. Those who do risk retaliation² - sometimes even a less than honorable discharge. Among those veterans, there's another number going up though - the number of people getting their records corrected to show that they served honorably. NPR's Quil Lawrence reports.

QUIL LAWRENCE, BYLINE³: Sexual assault and harassment⁴ affect female troops at a higher rate. But since the military is still mostly male, it's men who make up a much larger number among the thousands of sexual assault victims each year. But women report the crime more than twice as often as men, which is what makes Heath Phillips so rare because he speaks about it publicly.

HEATH PHILLIPS: Nobody should have to go through this.

LAWRENCE: Phillips was sexually assaulted repeatedly right after he joined the Navy. He says the trauma⁵ drove him to alcoholism and to go AWOL. He was kicked out of the Navy in 1989 with an other than honorable discharge.

PHILLIPS: I was 18. I had no clue the stigma⁶, the pitfalls⁷ and downfalls that having that discharge would carry. I was denied jobs. I was denied any type of - joining any veteran organizations. I was deemed as, like, a bad person. And then when you try going to VA, having that discharge completely barred me from VA help.

LAWRENCE: Philip said he spent 20 years as a drunk - sometimes suicidal. He got sober in 2009. In 2015, the VA finally diagnosed him with PTSD connected to sexual assault. But still, the military review boards refused on three separate appeals to change his discharge. Then he got a phone call last Wednesday.

PHILLIPS: I probably said, oh, my God at least 150 times.

LAWRENCE: It was his lawyer Coco Culhane, calling to say the fourth appeal had won.

COCO CULHANE: The military are finally sort of catching⁸ up with the notion that all of his behavior was driven directly by post-traumatic stress disorder⁹ and the trauma he's experiencing.

LAWRENCE: Culhane is with the Veteran Advocacy Project. She says the Pentagon bowed to pressure in 2014, telling discharge review boards to give liberal consideration to vets¹⁰ with PTSD. Last year, Congress made that law and required the boards to start reporting how often they give upgrades. And the numbers continue to rise. After years when it was considered a long shot, the boards this year have granted about half of all the appeals by veterans who survived sexual assault. But it's a small number applying. Many vets have long ago given up on it, says Don Christensen, a former Air Force prosecutor¹¹ who now leads the group Protect Our Defenders¹².

DON CHRISTENSEN: We'll hear from people from the Vietnam War still who, you know, just kind of reach out because they want to talk to somebody but have no real hope that they're ever going to get relief.

LAWRENCE: Heath Phillips is hoping his example will encourage others. His upgraded honorable discharge, 29 years after he left the Navy, is on its way in the mail.

PHILLIPS: The original, I'm going to post it on the wall in my office, just so I can reflect on it. Just - it lets me know how strong I was.

LAWRENCE: He's thankful, he says, that he didn't give up. Quil Lawrence, NPR News.

1 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

2 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

5 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

6 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

7 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

8 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

11 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

12 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》