Because of the stigma attached to gay sexual assault, a new study by the American Psychological Association (APA) has found that the Pentagon may have be underreporting incidents of male rape by as much as 15 percent.

The Washington Times is reporting on the new study which surveyed a random group of 180 combat veterans and found that the rate of sexual assault is much higher than what is being reported.

“Rates of military sexual trauma among men who served in the military may be as much as 15 times higher than has been previously reported, largely because of barriers associated with stigma, beliefs in myths about male rape, and feelings of helplessness,” the APA said when it released its findings Tuesday.

The Defense Department has reported that more men than women are being sexually assaulted, but this is based on pure numbers. Women comprise just 14.5 percent of the 1.4 million member active force.

“We know that there is under reporting among men and women and hope that this special issue will help to bring awareness and treatment for those that serve and protect us,” said the APA issue’s co-editor, Michi Fu, a clinical practitioner. “I personally wanted to pull together scholarship after hearing of reports of military sexual trauma being so much more prevalent than in the general population.”

Researchers found that the incident of rape also contributed to the suffering of the victims in other ways.

“Male veterans who reported being sexually assaulted while serving their country suffered more severe symptoms of PTSD and depression, had higher rates of suicidal thoughts and were more likely to enroll in outpatient mental health treatment than those who were not assaulted,” the researchers found.

In 2013, the Pentagon found that 26,000 service members were sexually assaulted with 14,000 of them being men.

According to the APA findings, the true number is more like 210,000 assaults in a one year period.

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com