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New Bill Would Mandate VA Sexual Assault Record Keeping

The House of Representatives has finally acted upon a report issued last June claiming of all the rapes that occur on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), two-thirds of them are never reported. According to a report in The Air Force Times. The House has given the VA a deadline of March 1, 2012 by which the VA must "improve how it tracks sexual assaults" in its medical facilities.

The House passed the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention and Health Care Enhancement Act by voice vote that will require the VA to collect all reports of military sexual assaults and "safety incidents" at a centralized location. The bill, however, will still need to pass the Senate to become law.

According to a report issued by the Government Accountability Office, there were 284 reported sexual assaults over 2.5 years. VA leaders and regional offices were never notified of the assaults. The allegations included: 

• 67 rapes;
• 185 inappropriate touching;
• 13 instances of forced oral sex;
• 11 sexual assaults;
• 8 patients claiming they had been forced to undergo medical exams.

The assaults were of a mixed variety, meaning some of the assaults were patients attacking employees, employees attacking patients, employees attacking employees, and some even involved people outside the VA. The VA's failure to track these assaults represents a "fundamental weakness" in the VA's operations.

If you are a disabled veteran who has been denied disability compensation or have not yet applied for benefits from the VA, a South Florida disability attorney from LaVan & Neidenberg is ready to help. To learn if you are entitled to certain programs and benefits contact our veterans disability rights firm today - 1-888-234-5758.