Women Warriors: Supporting She 'Who Has Borne the Battle'

When Sergeant Cara Hammer returned from her deployment in Iraq in 2005, she thought her days of fighting were over. But she quickly discovered that she had more battles ahead of her.

After surviving roadside bombs and mortar rounds in Iraq, Cara came home and realized that she was suffering from an invisible wound, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Determined to seek help for her mental health injury, Cara turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for care. 

Unfortunately, she wasn’t exactly met with open arms. Her description of her first experience walking into a VA hospital should make your blood boil.

“I felt like a candy striper. The only difference is I’m carrying around my medical records, instead of passing out candy and cigarettes.  Cat-calls turned what was already an uncomfortable situation into a nightmare.”

Cara is far from alone. The veterans of this generation aren’t just the demographic you may know from your grandfather’s VFW hall.  Women now make up 11 percent of the American force in Iraq and Afghanistan. And these female troops and veterans are not receiving the same level of support from the military and the VA as their male peers.  Not even close. As a result, they are facing significant and unique challenges that we can no longer afford to ignore:

• Sexual Assault, Harassment and Military Sexual Trauma (MST)&mdashWomen in the military have been coping with widespread and underreported sexual assault and harassment for decades. Last year alone, there were almost 3,000 reports of sexual assault involving servicemembers.  Incredibly, this is probably only the tip of the iceberg; almost half of all sexual assaults go unreported. Among those female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have turned to the VA for care, nearly 15 percent have screened positive for Military Sexual Trauma (MST).
• Dramatically Higher Divorce Rates for Female Servicemembers—Marriages of female troops are failing at almost three times the rate of male servicemembers. How did a Pentagon spokesperson respond to seeing these numbers today? He called the statistics “alarming,” and added, “This is the first time I’m hearing these numbers.” Ironic, considering these are their numbers.
• Barriers to VA Health Care—The VA is woefully underprepared to meet the surge of female veterans coming to its hospitals and clinics. Only 14 percent of VA facilities offer specialized, comprehensive women’s health clinics, and the VA is experiencing serious shortages of qualified women’s health and mental health providers. With female enrollment at the VA expected to double in the next 15 years, it is past time to address these significant barriers to care.
• Rising Rates of Homelessness among Female Veterans—Female veterans are swelling the ranks of the homeless. There are already more than 13,000 homeless female veterans nationwide. And existing programs for these homeless female veterans aren’t cutting it. Adding to the challenge is the increasing number of female veterans with families in need of homeless services. Almost a quarter of female vets in the VA’s homeless programs have children under the age of 18, creating a ripple effect that will impact people for generations to come. 

More than 140 years ago, President Lincoln pledged America’s obligation, “To Care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” It is time for the nation to renew this commitment to our women warriors. After honorably fighting overseas, female veterans, like Cara Hammer, shouldn’t have to wage new battles once they get home.  And they should be treated like heroes, not candy stripers. 

This week, IAVA launched its latest Issue Report, “Women Warriors: Supporting She ‘Who Has Borne the Battle,” on the unique and urgent service and homecoming challenges facing female troops and veterans. The report is the cornerstone of IAVA’s first annual “Week of the Women Warriors,” a multi-faceted effort to honor the courage and sacrifice of female servicemembers. Visit www.iava.org/womenwarriors to download the full report and find out more ways to get involved on behalf of our nation’s women warriors. 

Crossposted at www.IAVA.org

 

 

 

Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff

Comments

[Maiyah Olivas]

02:19 PM on 10/19/2009

Dear Paul,

I have the honor of working with military personnel, both male and female, on PTSD and post-deployment issues in my practice.

I've found that certain techniques can work quickly, even for long-term symptoms:

http://www.emofree.com/Trauma/EMT-trauma-relief.htm (PTSD)

http://www.emofree.com/Articles2/multiple-o-roxy.htm (Sexual issues connected with abuse)

I've seen these techniques work wonders for military personnel who are grappling with multiple issues:

1) institutionalized barriers to acknowledging and addressing "invisible wounds";
2) post-combat stress;
3) post-rape stress;

Thank you for your work in garnering support for our veterans, both female and male.

[demfriend]

11:52 AM on 10/16/2009

I helped to admit a female active duty to our ward/unit last night and she shared something I had heard before from another female and a couple of males who had been in Iraq the first years of the war there, rape happens a lot to our female soldiers. This most recent is having to go through legal channels to even have her case be "really heard". The first person who was given her "complaint" she says swept it so far under the rug they had to extract it with a couple of people (males) who would support her "story". Otherwise she would have no one even paying attention now. Her case is still in the process of getting investigated for "real this time". She and others have said the military is not doing what they should and can to deal with these sexual harrassment and attacks as they have been told the military doesn't want any "numbers in the media" to reflect the whole story. If it was just one female and not more than one person I would think it not a larger issue but as it continues to come up as reasons for people being in a psych unit for thoughts of killing themselves or others it has grown as far as I can see!

[langej]

08:29 AM on 10/16/2009

Women are about 14% of the military (200k out of 1.4m) so they should get 14% of the resources, whether at VA or elsewhere.

PTSD is not a gender-related problem. Those who argue that women are more susceptible are arguing to keep women away from stressful situations, i.e.out of combat, i.e. out of the military that counts.

[jojojo]

09:25 AM on 10/16/2009

I'm all for the equality you mention. I think women should be required to register for the draft, for instance, as all our young men are required to do. Equal responsibility goes with equality. Also, the military, made up of 14% women as you point out, spends more on breast cancer research than on prostate cancer research, though prostate cancer strikes as often as breast cancer and kills nearly as often. So let's remember equality is a 2-way street.

[jojojo]

09:35 AM on 10/16/2009

...and before you say " there's no draft," my point is that if there IS a draft, only men will be required to enter the military. Women should be under the same obligation.

[Patti Peterson]

11:17 AM on 10/16/2009

When men stop raping their fellow soldiers, then you can say how much of the resources women should receive. Until then, women should receive as much support as they need to recover from the trauma of sexual assault combined with combat duty.

It is completely wrong to say that women should not serve in combat duty because they are more susceptible to PTSD. They are getting assaulted from both sides, and that is what makes them more susceptible.

[langej]

05:12 PM on 10/16/2009

Holding no brief for rapists, I'll buy what you say, but it is an argument that must be made carefully. It might be used to say that putting women into an industry that prides itself on being - and trains its staff to be - more aggressive than the general population leads to some pretty predictable, if unacceptable, amounts of sexual aggression. One needs to watch out for the comeback that women are, therefore, more expensive than men to employ in combat and to care for in post-combat treatment - hence less cost-effective than men.

According to the article above some 6000 military women (or 3%) fall into this category. That does not compare unfavorably with rate in the general population - indeed it is probably significantly better.

[Lee Spinner]

10:54 PM on 10/16/2009

Women are not the only victims of rape or sexual assault in the military. Chains of command do their best to keep it under wraps when it is men or women. During my time in Iraq in 2005, I know of one supposed elite division that had 5 sexual assaults in a one month period, 4 of them were male on male. It is a disgusting crime either way and more needs to be done to address it in either instance.

[demfriend]

11:51 PM on 10/15/2009

As many know I work in a mental health ward/unit in a Navy Medical Center. I work in the psych ICU where it is locked and as safe as we can make it for those who need to be protected from themselves. The incidence of PTSD troops being admitted has gone done while the suicides continue to climb and it comes from the "be a man" mentality of the military I am frequently told by those who have had to come in for help to stay alive. That obviously isn't being told to the women as the talk they get is more the "Be a good Marine" etc and "stand up", "Be tough" the worst is "If you made it home then what's your problem". For every 10 males who has been forced to or asked to come into our ward/unit there has been 1 female and it is not a PTSD diagnosis they usually get, they are "depressed" or "Anxiety problems". I am not sure what should be done for these are active duty soldiers we see and I have not one single doubt that there are thousands who need the help but are not getting it until situations force it. Too many females are suffering as I am told by those soldiers male and female with PTSD but is it sexist issues or across the board issues?

[Billvn6970]

10:45 PM on 10/15/2009

I have worked with our veterans all of my adult life and with Jon Nachison of the original Stand Down in San Diego, and chaired Southwest Arizona Stand Down for the past five years. Last year, at our event in Yuma, Arizona, we began the firts "Women Veterans Resource Center" at Stand Down. It was hugely successful, and included a representative from VETWOW in Seatlle, Washington who flew in for the event, herself a victim.. I was stunned to find out just how huge this problem is. Sexual harrassment and assault are the single biggest national military secrets in this country. Not a single harrasser/assaulter has been punished for his or her crimes. If you really want to know how severe this problem is, visit thier website. CAUTION: It is shocking.

[southernfriedactivist]

10:29 PM on 10/15/2009

This reminds me that it's not just gay rights we need to fight for in the military.

[humann]

10:08 PM on 10/15/2009

I'm all for the military seriously prosecuting any crime from harrassment to rape that its members commit against anyone, female or male, civilian or fellow soldier. I'd also like to see the cultural change necessary to bring about reform that would end both sexism and militarism. But I'm not holding my breath. Our military is an all-volunteer expeditionary killing machine for an unthreatened country's financial empire and if my daughter tried to join it I'd be heartbroken. Until the day that we stop sending troops to foreign countries to protect our multi-national corporate interests this MST issue will sound to me like white people complaining about how bad jail can be for them. I know that view won't be popular here but I really don't think that the war industry is a good place to push for equal rights for women. Military history of millennia of male-centric abuse isn't going to change much because we think it should now. Odd how the quest for equality has women fighting to participate in the worst things that men do instead of moving us all forward as a species. I prefer the Lysistrata method.

[StPeteDave]

08:43 PM on 10/15/2009

This is an absolute disgrace, and I thank you so much for bringing it to my attention. I will be contacting my congresspeople on this issue.

[zola77]

07:15 PM on 10/15/2009

Thanks for this article.

[Maerwynn]

06:22 PM on 10/15/2009

GREAT post! Thank you, Mr. Rieckhoff!

[OkieIntellectual]

05:53 PM on 10/15/2009

As a female Army vet, let me share a bit of wisdom for any current female soldiers out there that may help in dealing with disrespectful male counterparts. First off, you have to stop thinking like a girl and start thinking like a warrior. You have to be willing to confront any disrespect immediately, in the moment, and be willing to go to blows with the offender.

In the mid-90s I was part of a small pilot-program testing the viability of women in the infantry. I went to the basic infantry course at Ft. Benning along with about 100 other women, then was given a 6-month rotation with an infantry unit at Ft. Campbell, KY. I took flak from the guys for about three weeks before I got fed up with the inappropriate comments and disparagments about my perceived performance.

So one day one of those jerks got my elbow right across the bridge of his nose and it took three of my platoon mates to pull me off of him when he hit the ground. From that point on, I was treated as an equal. Ladies, you HAVE to show the men that you are just as tough and able to throw-down some hurt as they are, and do so in a manner which they can understand and respect.

[mergina]

05:08 PM on 10/15/2009

The hospitals in Chicago are starting to do a great job with women veteran patients. It is still hard to get some of the staff that has been waiting on nearly nothing but men for decades NOT call you sir....;)

[Gatormouth]

02:08 PM on 10/15/2009

Vets deserve proper treatment, both medical and social, during and after their service. Politicians who pose as supporting them while voting to under fund their care are breaking what should be a sacred social contract. And about female vets? A vet is a vet. They served, they earned our assistance. This is not charity!

[RightWingMarine]

11:13 AM on 10/15/2009

I had a female Marine join my unit after she returned from deployment and she was ready to go UA. I had an senior female Marine give her counsoling and teach her how to deal with the realities of life for women in the military. She turned out to be one of my best Marines and she told me that one of the things that really helped her was a book I gave her called Sisters in arms which is about female military members service in Iraq. She explained that it gave her a lot of inspiration.

[Berettasskeeter]

10:04 PM on 10/15/2009

Well done! I only had WM's at the end of my career, and most were fine Marines. Naturally, as with the men, I did have that 10%'er, but most were good, solid, Marines. They deserve the same treatment as their male counterparts, no doubt!
Semper fi

[iridium53]

10:49 AM on 10/15/2009

13,000 homeless female veterans.

Obama, the Democrats and Shinseki can do better.

Plus the homeless male veterans.