The State of Women Veterans Today

Women are currently the fastest growing sub-population of today’s greater veteran community. To put it in perspective, while the total percentage of all veterans in the United States is declining, the percentage of women veterans within that number is growing. This means the veteran population of tomorrow will look very different that it does today. We’re only staring to understand how this change will present different challenges that we haven’t previously seen.

We need to be prepared both as a community of veterans in Rally Point, and as a country, to understand, and have meaningful conversations about what it means to be a woman veteran in today’s society. Furthermore, Federal, state, and local communities need to better understand the impact presented by this new veteran landscape.

For perspective, women veterans outpace their peers in just about any demographic currently measured. When compared to both non-veteran women, and male veteran peers, women veterans show up very differently. Statistics related specifically to women veterans still do not receive the attention needed for long term success after military service.

After separating or retiring from the service, data is proving that women veterans experience trends unlike veterans of any other service era. Women veterans earn money than non-veteran women, work in higher levels of management and earn more college degrees. In this respect, our statistics are surprisingly high.

But these high statistics don’t stop there, compared to male veterans and non-veteran women, women veterans also lead in almost every negative demographic.

After service, women veterans overwhelmingly diverge into 2 extremely disparate groups, those that are very successful, and those that face challenges unlike any other veteran population in our nation’s history. If we don’t address this issue now, and have meaningful conversations, the problem will become harder and harder to address.

One of the primary barrier to understanding women veteran challenges is because the “visible” women veterans we tend to see in society are the women veterans that are succeeding. These are the women veterans that actively participate in their veteran and non-veteran communities. These are the women you see active in Rally Point, for example. They also tend to over index as compared to male veterans for initiatives such as The Mission Continues. Here, women veterans are a very visible indicator of how a woman veteran can thrive today.

However, there are many other women veterans we don’t see. And this makes it more difficult to understand the challenges they currently face. Women veterans have greater chance of becoming homeless compared to their male veteran counterparts. Adding to the problem, many are “couch surfing”, technically homeless, but moving from one friend’s home to another. Big picture, this hides the true nature of the problem, and makes it harder to quantify it as a true issue.

When it comes to suicide, the likelihood of women veterans to commit suicide is growing at a rate double that of male veterans. Furthermore, in relation to non-veteran women, women veterans are 5-6 times more likely to commit suicide, and 12 times more likely than women aged 18-29 that haven’t served.

Compared to non-veteran women, women veterans are almost twice as likely to be divorced, and three times more likely to be a victim of intimate partner violence.

Finally, 1 in 5 women report having been a victim of Military Sexual Trauma. Based on a recent DoD report, this statistic appears to be climbing.

Here’s the most critical point - most women veterans face not one, but multiple negative trends, creating an exponential impact. This creates a stew like situation, making it increasingly harder to address. To be effective at addressing these situations, we need to get in front of the root cause, and focus on prevention rather than response.

Support from the Rally Point community critical. As veterans, we’re used to leading the way, and setting a standard higher than the rest of society. We can all be advocates for initiatives and programs supporting women veterans. When our community starts seeing women veterans as a significant sub-population of our veteran cohort, we will be better prepared for the next steps. Whether it’s reaching out one-on-one in your local community or via Rally Point, or supporting a larger initiative, we all will play a role in developing the future of the veteran community.