{"id":219062,"date":"2025-12-19T12:56:44","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T17:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/?post_type=press_release&p=219062"},"modified":"2025-12-19T12:56:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T17:56:44","slug":"civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma","status":"publish","type":"press_release","link":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma","title":{"rendered":"Civil Rights Groups Urge Appeals Court to Order Timely Benefits Review for Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma"},"menu_order":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-219062","press_release","type-press_release","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"subheading":"Amicus Brief Argues Lower Court Ruling Denying Expedited Adjudication Defies Congressional Intent","date_and_time":"2025-12-19 11:00:08","featured_image":"","show_on_press_releases_landing_page":true,"components":[{"acf_fc_layout":"text","text":{"text":"WASHINGTON \u2013 Four organizations advocating for the civil rights of survivors of military sexual trauma (MST) filed a friend-of-the-court brief<\/a> today urging the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reverse a lower court decision denying expedited adjudication of veterans\u2019 benefits to people with mental health disabilities arising from sexual violence in the military.\r\n\r\nThe organizations filing the amicus brief, the National Alliance to End Sexual Violence, Protect Our Defenders Foundation, Service Women\u2019s Action Network (SWAN), and the Victim Rights Law Center, are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union.\r\n\r\n\u201cSurvivors of military sexual trauma have already endured profound harm in service to our country, it is an insult upon injury that they are being forced to endure years of bureaucratic delay to receive the benefits Congress expressly promised them,\u201d said Josh Connolly, senior vice president of Protect Our Defenders Foundation<\/strong>. \u201cCongress was unequivocal when it passed the Dignity for MST Survivors Act: claims involving military sexual trauma must be expedited. Ignoring that mandate not only defies the law, it retraumatizes survivors and further undermines trust in the system meant to protect them.\u201d\r\n\r\nIn December 2022, Congress passed legislation requiring the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve its treatment of MST survivors, including the Dignity for MST Survivors Act which mandates the VA to expedite administrative appeals involving MST. Yet the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims ruled in a case brought by Karissa Wiggins that it would not enforce this duty.\r\n\r\n\u201cSurvivors of military sexual trauma experienced the violence while in service to our country,\u201d said Stacy Malone, executive director of Victim Rights Law Center.<\/strong> \u201cIt is unconscionable that victims are being denied timely access to benefits that would help them heal and rebuild their lives.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe brief explains that timely access to benefits is critical for veterans with disabilities stemming from MST, affording survivors who require costly treatment or are unable to work the financial support they need. It also explains that expedited adjudication and appeals encourage survivors to report MST and is consistent with Congress\u2019 intent to make compensation for survivors more readily available.\r\n\r\n\u201cCongress passed the Dignity for MST Survivors Act nearly unanimously with a crystal-clear mandate: to improve the treatment of victims of military sexual trauma. By denying prompt review of these claims, our government is breaking the promise Congress made to care for those who have served,\u201d said Brad Adams, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Disability Rights Program<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nFinally, the brief highlights that women and LGBTQ veterans are overrepresented among survivors, bearing the brunt of a dysfunctional claims process, while stigma and implicit biases infect the claims of men and Black veterans, who are more likely to have their claims denied.\r\n\r\n\u201cTimely access to benefits can be the difference between stability and crisis for survivors of military sexual trauma. Congress recognized this reality when it required expedited review of MST claims. Failing to enforce that law undermines both survivor dignity and congressional intent,\u201d said SWAN\u2019s CEO and President Elisa Cardnell<\/strong>.\r\n\r\nThe brief is available here: https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/cases\/karissa-wiggins-v-douglas-collins?document=Amicus-Brief<\/a>"}}],"drupal_node_id":"","email":"media@aclu.org","phone":"(212) 549-2666","address":{"address_1":"125 Broad Street","address_2":"18th Floor","city":"New York","state":"NY","zip_code":10004,"country":"United States"},"pgp_public_key":"","issues":[46407,46811,46729,46809,46789,46815],"press_releases_related_to_cases":[219059],"spokesperson":"","related_affiliates":"","related_content_documents":"","related_content_publications":""},"yoast_head":"\nAmerican Civil Liberties Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Civil Rights Groups Urge Appeals Court to Order Timely Benefits Review for Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma | American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Civil Liberties Union\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@aclu\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma\",\"name\":\"Civil Rights Groups Urge Appeals Court to Order Timely Benefits Review for Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma | American Civil Liberties Union\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-19T17:56:44+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/\",\"name\":\"American Civil Liberties Union\",\"description\":\"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"American Civil Liberties Union","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Civil Rights Groups Urge Appeals Court to Order Timely Benefits Review for Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma | American Civil Liberties Union","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma","og_site_name":"American Civil Liberties Union","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@aclu","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma","name":"Civil Rights Groups Urge Appeals Court to Order Timely Benefits Review for Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma | American Civil Liberties Union","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-12-19T17:56:44+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/press-releases\/civil-rights-groups-urge-appeals-court-to-order-timely-benefits-review-for-survivors-of-military-sexual-trauma"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/","name":"American Civil Liberties Union","description":"The ACLU dares to create a more perfect union \u2014 beyond one person, party, or side. Our mission is to realize this promise of the United States Constitution for all and expand the reach of its guarantees.","inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"American Civil Liberties Union","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release\/219062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press_release"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release\/219062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":219063,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press_release\/219062\/revisions\/219063"}],"acf:post":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/219059"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46815"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46789"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46809"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46729"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46811"},{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue\/46407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=219062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}