Fort Harrison to re-start support group for women veterans

By Matt Volz

The Veterans’ Administration at Fort Harrison plans to re-start a support group for women veterans who were raped or sexually assaulted, spurred by two years of lobbying by an advocate who said changing roles in the military increases the program’s need.

The Military Sexual Trauma Courage Group will begin its first 12-week course on Jan. 26 at Fort Harrison outside Helena, VA spokesman Shawn Garcia said Thursday.

“The decision was simple: There’s a need,” Garcia said. “We have a significant population of women veterans in general, and there is a need for military sexual trauma support groups.” The group will help victims — generally women who were raped or assaulted while in military service — work through issues of anger, trust, self-esteem and relationship problems.

Carole Kiley, an Army Veteran who served at Fort Riley, Kansas, and in Germany from 1977 to 1981 as a mechanic, has been pressuring the VA to re-start the program since 2013. She has spoken about it at multiple VA town halls, has met with VA managers, and even started her own group when she felt she wasn’t making any headway trying to bring it back within the system.

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