Report Alleging Widespread Military Gay-rape Retracted

The American Psychological Association has taken the extraordinary step of retracting an in-house journal article that asserted the rate of rape and other sexual trauma among military men was as much as 15 times higher than the Pentagon’s own survey.

In a press released posted Sunday night, the APA said outside scholars had examined the study, “Preliminary Data Suggest Rates of Male Sexual Trauma May be Higher than Previously Reported,” and determined the method for randomly selecting and surveying male combat veterans was flawed.

“Although the article went through our standard peer-review process, other scholars have since examined the data and raised valid concerns regarding the design and statistical analysis, which compromise the findings,” said Gary R. VandenBos, APA’s publisher, in announcing the retraction.

The APA sent out a press release on Nov. 2 touting the military male findings among 12 other articles on military sexual trauma in the journal Psychological Services.

“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 Nov. 2.

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