Women Veterans
Women on the front lines
Women are serving on the front lines as never before in our nation’s history and unfortunately, this is creating challenges.
Of the 1.7 million troops who have been deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, more than 190,000 – or about 11 percent- are women. Women today make up a much lager percentage of veterans and active duty military members than in any previous wars. Approximately 180,000 women are serving in a war zone. Unlike past wars where women were not subject to actual combat, women deployed today are serving on the front lines in combat zones. Women today are experiencing many of the same traumatic stressors that men do in combat such as incoming fire from enemy artillery, rockets, or mortars, sniper fire, and seeing other killed or wounded. Although men and women are experiencing many of the same traumatic stressors, women are reporting greater levels of distress than men when exposed directly to war trauma. Although Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome or PTSD is the most common effect of military trauma associated with Military Sexual Trauma (MST), women may also suffer from depression, night mares, sleeplessness, anger and isolation. In many cases this can lead to the use of substances to deal with the realities they faced in combat.
In 2007, the Department of Veteran Affairs conducted research and found that more and more women are reporting signs of mental health issues due to their combat experiences when they return home. The exposure to the severely injured, casualties, and heavy workloads all may lead to severe emotional effects on female veterans. They are reporting these mental health issues at a higher rate than men who serve in the military. A large number of the women who report these emotional effects continue to have serious emotional and psychosocial problems that affect their everyday life. Women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with a depression disorder and borderline personality disorders.
Women may also suffer from Isolation when they return home from service. Women who have been traumatized by war tend to isolate themselves due their distrust of others when they return to civilian life. They may spend weeks unable to sleep with their partners, socialize, or even leave home.
Military Sexual Trauma
"Women serving in the U.S. Military today are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq." Jane Harman representative.
Military Sexual Trauma also known as MST refers to the experience of some type of sexual assault that can range from unwanted sexual contact to rape that occur while a person is in the military. Although men are not impervious to MST, it seems that women veterans tend to be at higher risk. 4 in 10 women experience some type of sexual assault during their military career and more than 29 % of women have experienced rape during their military service. MST seems to be more prevalent among non-combat veteran women. 86 percent of non-combat veterans report in service or post service sexual assault where as 69 percent of female combat veterans report incidences of MST. Although MST occurs among both men and women, a typical victim is a woman who may either be a veteran or a civilian spouse of an active veteran and is usually under 25 years old. Women may also be victimized at a higher level than men because they are put at a higher risk when they enter a male dominated field at a lower level of au thority. This often increased their risk factors of being a victim of MST.
Although Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is the most well known effect of Military Sexual Trauma, women experience many additional physical and psychological effects as well. Women who experience physical and sexual violence during their service tend to report higher rates of poor health status than those who have not experienced any sexual violence. Women who have been sexually or physically assaulted tend to have more chronic health problems, lower quality of life as it related to their physical health, more emotional problems, and were less likely to complete a college education. Many victims of MST receive inadequate medical care which in turn creates a decreased quality of life, higher mortality rates, lower morality rates, and more economic challenges. Unfortunately many women do not report the incident for fear that their assailant may be at a higher level of authority and they may not be believed, they did not know how to report the incident, or they had the mentality that sexual abuse was to be expected in the military. Along with the physical challenges that come with MST, women who have been victimized also face emotional challenges as well. Emotional problems associated with MST tend to be depression, anxiety, problem drinking, and in some cased domestic abuse. There is also a high incidence of substance abuse reported among women veterans who are victims of MST. People abusing substances tend to believe that the substance will numb the pain. Veterans may also turn to alcohol and drugs to help deal with nightmares and insomnia related to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
