From our Moral Injury and Veterans Symposium in September 2015. Presented by Star Lara.

1. Moral Injury Symposium
swords-to-plowshares.org
combattocommunity.org
INSTITUTE FOR VETERAN POLICY
Women Veterans

2. Women Veterans
Women veterans share many of the short- and long-
term physical and emotional consequences and needs
that their male counterparts face as a result of serving
their country. In addition, as women veterans they
have unique experiences and needs.

3. Women Veterans
WHY WOMEN JOIN THE MILITARY
 Duty to their country.
 Look for adventure and travel.
 Seeking a career.
 A way to earn a college degree or technical skills.
 To provide for their families.
 To become independent.
 To escape abusive and violent home environments.

4. Women in the Military
 Women have served their country in every war and conflict since the
American Revolution.
 In the early 1900s they formally joined the U.S. Armed Forces through the
newly established Army Nurse Corps, Women’s Army Corps, Navy Nurse
Corps and Women in the Air Force.
 By the late 1970s women were assimilated into the regular branches of
the military.
 The 1980 census was the first time women were asked if they had ever
served in the Armed Forces.

5. Women in the Military
BY THE NUMBERS*
 15%: Active duty enlisted & 16.8% Active duty officers.
 18%: National Guard and Reserves.
 20%: New recruits.
 10%: Veterans (projected to double over next 20 years).
 12% of active duty women and 16% of Guard and
Reserves women are single mothers, compared to 4%
who are single fathers.
* DoD, Demographics 2010: Profile of the Military Community.

6. Women in the Military: Combat
2.7 million troops have deployed in support
of Global War on Terror (GWOT)
 280,000 are women (41,000 in Gulf
War).
 161 women have been killed in combat.
 > 18,600 have been wounded in action.
 > 9000 received Combat Action Badges
*CTS Deployment File Baseline Report, Defense Manpower Data Center, as of March 2013;
Defense Casualty Analysis System, as of April 2012.

7. Women in the Military: Combat
1994 COMBAT EXCLUSION POLICY
States that women shall be excluded from assignment to units
whose primary mission is to engage in direct combat on the
ground.
FEBRUARY 2012 REVISED COMBAT EXCLUSION POLICY
Women fly combat aircraft, serve on combat ships, combat
medics, military police, etc., but are still banned from serving
in the infantry; 30% of positions still remain restricted to men.

8. Women in the Military: Combat
LIONESS DOCUMENTARY
TRIGGER WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT DEPICTING SCENES OF WAR

9. Women in the Military: Combat
FIRST FEMALE SOLDIERS GRADUATE FROM ARMY RANGER SCHOOL

10. Women in the Military: Combat
JANUARY 2013 RESCIND DIRECT COMBAT EXCLUSION RULE
 Ensuring the success of our nation’s war fighting forces by
preserving unit readiness, cohesion and morale.
 Ensuring all service men and women are given the
opportunity to succeed and are set-up for success with
viable career paths.
 Retaining the trust and confidence of the American people
to defend this nation by promoting policies that maintain
the best quality and most qualified people.

11. Women Veterans: Homecoming
 Idealistic and unrealistic expectations in family
roles as a partner, spouse, mother, daughter
and sister.
 When a male service member comes home,
he often has help from a wife or mother.
When a woman returns home, she
is often expected to handle childcare, work
around the house and hold down a job.
DEPLOYMENTS / HOMECOMING STRESS

12. Women Veterans
LIONESS DOCUMENTARY
TRIGGER WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT DEPICTING SCENES OF WAR

13. California Veterans
U.S. Veteran Population: 22 million
U.S. Women Veteran Population: 2.3 million
CA Veteran Population: 1.9 million (highest # of veterans)
Bay Area and Southern CA have highest # in CA
CA Women Veteran Pop.: 185,269 (10% of all women veterans)
*VetPop, 2011.

14. Women Veterans in Transition
Women veterans do not always receive the
recognition and respect for their military service,
especially their combat experiences – they may feel
invisible.
“I always get challenged on my veteran status because of my gender.
People still seem to have the idea that only men can be combat
veterans.” -current-era woman veteran

15. Women Veterans
MENTAL HEALTH
 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
 Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)*
 Moral Injury
 Depression
 Substance Abuse (coping mechanism)
 Suicide
*Although considered a cognitive injury, TBI can affect mental health and often intersects with PTSD.

16. Women Veterans
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
 Men and women = chance of PTSD after exposure trauma.
 Physically injured women veterans: more likely to have PTSD
than men.
 Higher proportions of women veterans are diagnosed with
mental health conditions by the VA, but lower proportions
are diagnosed with PTSD.
* Maguen et al, “Gender differences in traumatic experiences and mental health in active duty
soldiers redeployed from Iraq and Afghanistan.” 2012; OIG, “Review of Combat Stress in
Women Veterans Receiving VA Health Care and Disability Benefits.” Dec 2010.

17. Women Veterans
DEPRESSION
Top 3 diagnostic category for women veterans treated
by the VA.
risk for depression (than men).
2X as likely to experience a major depressive episode.
*VA, Women Veterans Health Care, www.oefoif.va.gov/womenvets.asp; Maguen et al, “Gender differences in
traumatic experiences and mental health in active duty soldiers redeployed from Iraq and Afghanistan.” 2012.

18. Women Veterans
SUBSTANCE USE
Binge Alcohol = 2X the community rate.
Tobacco Smoking = 2.5X the community rate.
Opiate Use = 3X the community rate.
Women who go through trauma have risk for drinking problems.
National Center for PTSD, www.ptsd.va.gov/public/pages/ptsd-alcohol-use.asp.
Golub and Bennett, 2013.

19. Women Veterans
HOMELESSNESS
 3-4X greater risk of homelessness for women veterans than for non-veteran women.
 VA data show the number of women veterans identified as homeless has doubled in the
last five years.
 Women veterans with TBI are seven times more likely to be homeless than veteran men
with TBI.
 A disproportionate amount of homeless women veterans have experienced MST.
Gamache et al, 2003; GAO, 2011; photo: veteranstoday.com
Stanford University, 2013.
GAO, 2011

20. Women Veterans
 22 veterans commit suicide a day.
 1,000 suicide attempts per month among all veterans
seen at VA medical facilities.
 Women veterans are 2 - 3X more likely to commit
suicide than non-veteran women.
SUICIDE

21. Women Veterans
WOMEN VETERANS CALL CENTER
Receives and responds to questions
from women veterans, their families
and caregivers across the nation about
available VA services and resources.
(855) 829-6636
(855) VA-WOMEN

22. Additional Resources
BOOKS
 Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq by Kirsten Holmstedt
 The Girls Come Marching Home: Stories of Women Warriors Returning
from the War in Iraq by Kirsten Holmstedt
 When Jane Comes Marching Home: Portraits of Women Combat
Veterans by Browder Laura/Pflaeging Sascha
 Love My Rifle More than You: Young and Female in the U.S. Army by
Michael E. Staub and Kayla Williams
 The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq by Helen
Benedict
 Women At War by Scott Baron and James Wise

23. Additional Resources
. DOCUMENTARIES
 Lioness by Meg McLagan and Daria
 Poster Girl by Sara Nesson
 Service: When Women Come Marching Home by Marcia Rock and Patricia
Lee Stotter
 The Invisible War by Helen Benedict

24. Thank You for Your Attendance
Copyright © 2014 by Swords to Plowshares
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or
in part in any form.
Swords to Plowshares
Institute for Veteran Policy
1060 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Star Lara
Women Veteran Program Manager
slara@stp-sf.org