“Relentless, aggressive and pervasive”: exploring gender minimisation and sexual abuse experienced by women ex-military veterans

Objective: Gender minimisation and sexual abuse within the military towards military women impacts physical and mental health wellbeing. Method: Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis six ex-military women were interviewed seeking positive and negative interpretations of gender minimisation and sexual abuse while in the military. Results: Analysis revealed two superordinate themes: Immature Culture, and Ejection and Growth; that overarched four subordinate themes. Results highlighted the participants’ ‘lived’ experience of a military culture where patriarchy and male privilege against women was fostered. Relentless belittling eroded their early adolescent goals of success aborting their ability to thrive psychologically. Distress from years of organisational betrayal, and contaminated by colleagial interpersonal dysfunction, facilitated an externalised narcissistic defence against internalised shame. Discharging from the military proved a painful, isolated struggle to make sense of their fragmented identities as former women in the military. Ultimately, they began to engage with pride in achievements and speak out against organisational abuse allowing posttraumatic growth to emerge. Conclusions: Personal experiences of gender minimisation and sexual abuse in the military brought juxtaposed betrayal and organisational traumatic distress for these participants. Clinically, the complexity of experiencing military gender minimisation and sexual abuse would benefit from strengths based and posttraumatic growth frameworks. Keywords: Military women, gender minimisation and sexual abuse, military sexual trauma, posttraumatic growth, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Clinical Impact Statement This study suggests that posttrauma psychological interventions for gender minimisation and sexual abuse experienced in the military should incorporate experiences of shame, fractured self-identity, collegial and organisational abuse, and posttraumatic growth.