( CNN ) -- A study released Thursday claims that troops who report suffering post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of sexual trauma -- namely for rape , assault or harassment -- are much less likely to get benefits than troops claiming to suffer from PTSD because of other causes . The report from the Service Women 's Action Network and the American Civil Liberties Union looked into what is called military sexual assault trauma . Specifically , how did troops ( male or female ) who claim to have experienced `` sexual violence '' fare in getting disability benefits ? Not well for many of them , the advocates claim , calling the `` often unsuccessful '' effort to get such benefits `` an unfair fight . '' `` They face a broken bureaucracy , with protracted delays and inaccurate adjudications , '' the report 's authors write . `` And ... it is clear that veterans who survive in-service sexual trauma also face discrimination in seeking compensation . '' They point to data , obtained following lawsuits from the Department of Veterans Affairs , that show a persistent gap in the success rate of those troops seeking benefits for PTSD tied to sexual trauma compared to those who say they got PTSD for other reasons . The Department of Veterans Affairs responded in a statement , saying it is `` committed to ensuring that veterans have access to military sexual trauma-related health care and disability benefits . '' The ACLU/SWAN report goes through the 2012 fiscal year and does not include FY 2013 , which ended September 30 . Data for the more recent fiscal year , the VA points out , shows a 6-percentage point gap in benefits grant rates for those with sexual trauma PTSD claims and all PTSD claims . Even without this data , those claiming PTSD due to sexual trauma have had increasing success in getting benefits . The claims of 56.8 % of them went through in fiscal year 2012 , much higher than the 30 % success rate in fiscal year 2008 . The report 's authors point out approval rates for PTSD claims not related to sexual traumas went up as well : For FY2012 , those were at 73.3 % , up 20 % from a few years earlier . `` The gap is really striking , '' said Anu Bhagwati , executive director of SWAN . `` ... The gap got even larger in 2011 and was large , as well , in 2012 . '' The VA , however , highlighted training and other efforts that have led to the significant increase in the number of troops claiming sexual trauma who have received disability benefits . `` The Under Secretary for Benefits ( Allison Hickey ) has spearheaded VA 's efforts to ensure that these claims are adjudicated compassionately and fairly , with sensitivity to the unique circumstances presented by each individual claim , '' the department said . `` ... Hickey 's efforts have dramatically improved VA 's overall sensitivity . '' Notably , claims tied to military sexual trauma represent a fraction of the PTSD claims overall that Veterans Affairs sees . Over the 2008 through 2012 fiscal years , for instance , there were 15,862 such claims out of 591,456 overall . The report highlights significant differences among Veterans Affairs regional offices in benefit grants for sexual trauma . Co-author Kathryn Mammel , from the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale , said that the variation between VA offices for all PTSD claims `` is not nearly as widespread '' as that for those specifically tabbed to sexual trauma . The office with the lowest approval rate for sexual trauma claims in FY 2012 is in St. Paul , Minnesota , signing off on just 25.8 % of requests . Offices in Detroit and St. Louis had similarly low rates , while offices in Nashville , Los Angeles and elsewhere showed significant upticks in recent years .
ACLU , SWAN release a report about troops seeking benefits for sexual trauma . They 're less likely to get benefits than troops seeking PTSD benefits for other reasons . Comment: Sexual trauma victims are increasingly likely to get benefits ; so are all PTSD sufferers .