The Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act (MSTAA), S. 4877, is a bipartisan bill supported by Inclusive America that would allow service members and veterans to bring civil claims against the United States when government negligence contributes to sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other sexual misconduct during military service.

In Fiscal Year 2024, the Department of Defense received 6,973 reports of sexual assault from service members involving incidents that occurred during military service. Despite years of reforms intended to prevent sexual misconduct and improve accountability, service members continue to face a unique legal barrier when negligence by the military contributes to their injuries.

Since the Supreme Court’s 1950 decision in Feres v. United States, the Feres doctrine has generally prevented service members from suing the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries considered “incident to service.” The Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act would create a targeted exception for military sexual trauma, allowing service members and veterans to seek meaningful recourse when government negligence contributes to sexual misconduct.

Justice for Survivors and Accountability for the Military

The Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act would allow eligible service members and veterans to bring civil claims against the United States when they suffer injury or death arising from sexual misconduct during military service and the government:

• negligently failed to prevent the sexual misconduct;
• negligently failed to investigate the sexual misconduct; or
• committed another wrongful or negligent act that contributed to the sexual misconduct.

The legislation covers qualifying forms of sexual misconduct under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, including:

• rape;
• sexual assault;
• aggravated sexual contact;
• abusive sexual contact;
• sexual harassment; and
• wrongful broadcast or distribution of intimate visual images.

The MSTAA would not make the government automatically liable whenever sexual misconduct occurs. Claimants would still have to establish qualifying wrongful or negligent government conduct.

Fair compensation for claims

If a service member or veteran successfully brings a claim under the Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act, compensation awarded under the law cannot be reduced simply because the survivor has already received health care or other benefits administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs or Department of Defense.

VA and military benefits are benefits earned through service and should not diminish compensation awarded for injuries caused by government negligence.

Extended window for legal action

The Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act provides survivors five years to bring a claim.

The five-year limitations period would be paused while an investigation or proceeding concerning the underlying sexual misconduct is pending. This gives survivors additional time to consider whether to pursue a civil claim without having an ongoing military investigation or proceeding consume their opportunity to seek legal recourse.

All servicemembers, past and present, are protected

The Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act would apply to qualifying claims arising both before and after the legislation becomes law.

For qualifying misconduct that occurred before enactment, the five-year limitations period would begin when the Act becomes law.

This provision would provide eligible veterans and former service members who experienced military sexual trauma before enactment with an opportunity to pursue a claim, rather than limiting the legislation’s protections only to future survivors.

Strengthening Military Readiness and Accountability

Sexual assault and harassment do not only harm individual service members. They can also undermine trust, unit cohesion, recruitment, retention, readiness, and confidence in military leadership.

The Military Sexual Trauma Accountability Act would create another mechanism for institutional accountability by examining not only the conduct of an alleged perpetrator, but also whether the government negligently failed to prevent or investigate sexual misconduct or otherwise contributed to the harm.