Military sexual trauma  As defined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, military sexual trauma (MST) are experiences of sexual assault, or repeated threatening sexual harassment that occurred while a person was in the United States Armed Forces. Military sexual trauma is used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and defined in federal law as "psychological trauma, which in the judgment of a VA mental health professional, resulted from a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred while the Veteran was serving on active duty, active duty for training, or inactive duty training". Sexual harassment "... means repeated, unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature which is threatening in character". The behavior may include physical force, threats of negative consequences, implied promotion, promises of favored treatment, or intoxication of either the perpetrator or the victim or both. Military Sexual Assault (MSA) is a subset of MST that does not include sexual harassment. MSA adversely affects thousands of service members during active military duty. Gross et al. (2018) defines MSA as "[i]ntentional sexual contact characterized by the use of force, threats, intimidation, or abuse of authority or when the victim does not or cannot consent that has occurred at any point during active-duty military." MSA frequently causes survivors—both men and women—to develop mental disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, and depressive disorders. PTSD is a mental health diagnosis that can occur after a traumatic event including combat. Factors related to higher risk of MSA are; "younger age, enlisted rank, being nonmarried, and low educational achievement". 15%-49% of women and 1.5%-22.5% of men experience sexual trauma prior to military service which has been shown to increase one's risk of sexual assault later on. MSA occurs more often in sexual and gender minorities. MSA occurs within an institution which may perpetuate trauma symptoms. Survivors of MSA often work alongside their perpetrators which accounts for the Institutional Betrayal that survivors experience in the military. Institutional Betrayal is defined as "an organization's action (or inactions) are complicit in a person's trauma, especially when the traumatized person depends on the institution". Institutional Betrayal can occur to anyone who trusts or depends on an organization. Distrust among service members can increase when finding out about another person's MSA. Research suggests that female veterans are less likely to trust their institution after MSA than male veterans.