# Addressing Gender-Based Harassment of Women Veterans at VA Facilities

> **NIH VA I21** · VA GREATER LOS ANGELES HEALTHCARE SYSTEM · 2021 · —

## Abstract

Project Background: Daily public revelations of sexual harassment, frequent media reports from victims
accusing perpetrators, and #metoo in social media highlight decades of harassment by those in more powerful
positions across many settings. A recent study conducted by our research team revealed that many women
Veterans and staff report sexual harassment by male Veterans at VA facilities. In fact, 25% of women Veterans
seen in VA primary care across 12 sites reported experiencing harassment from male Veterans while on VA
grounds. Similarly, women staff who took part in VA-based focus groups described experiencing unwelcome
advances, sexual comments, and being followed outside work. Exposure to harassment was associated with
women Veterans delaying or missing care, and feeling unwelcome at the VA. Among staff, it was associated
with negative impacts on employee morale, burnout, and turnover. The goal of this pilot study is to identify
strategies for addressing harassment of women Veteran VA patients and VA employees. Because harassment
is a contentious issue with varying perspectives on what constitutes acceptable versus unacceptable behavior,
achieving this goal requires innovative, stakeholder-engaged methods. After obtaining input from subject
matter experts, we propose to engage VA stakeholders through public deliberation methods, which are
appropriate for addressing value-laden healthcare policy issues about which different stakeholders have
entrenched, and possibly conflicting, views.
Project Objectives: The Specific Aims are to: (1) identify strategies for addressing harassment of women
Veterans and employees; and (2) engage in public deliberation methods at VA Greater Los Angeles (GLA) to
design a stakeholder-informed, locally-tailored strategy for addressing harassment.
Project Methods: To achieve Aim 1, we will conduct semi-structured interviews with national subject matter
experts (n=20). Informed by Aim 1 results, we will then engage VA clinicians, other VA staff, and Veterans
(both men and women; n=20) in a series of four structured deliberation sessions designed to elicit in-depth
views, with the goal of reaching common ground on how to address harassment. We will evaluate
stakeholders' experiences of engaging in these sessions using an adapted version of the Ways of Engaging-
Engagement ACtivity Tool (WE-ENACT), a measure developed by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
Institute. At the end of the deliberation sessions, our objective is to have a locally tailored strategy to test at VA
GLA, with support from a future HSR&D IIR.
Significance and Relevance to Veterans' Health: The project is guided by a patient-centered, community-
engaged research framework that features partnerships between researchers and stakeholders, and cross-
communication among stakeholders. As such, the project is responsive to several HSR&D priorities, including
patient-centered care and healthcare systems change, as well as HSR&D's cross-cutting method...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10017707
- **Project number:** 5I21HX002690-02
- **Recipient organization:** VA GREATER LOS ANGELES HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** Ruth Klap
- **Activity code:** I21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-10-01 → 2020-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10017707

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10017707, Addressing Gender-Based Harassment of Women Veterans at VA Facilities (5I21HX002690-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10017707. Licensed CC0.

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