A Forum on Women Veterans
August 5, 2010
By Christen N. McCluney

Hundreds of women came together last week at The Women’s Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery for a forum on Women’s Veterans.

The purpose of the forum was to educate, engage and to empower women veterans and women veteran advocates with the latest information from the Department of Veterans Affairs and to expand the dialogue of what is available to women veterans. The forum, which was held for the first time, tackled tough issues that women veterans are facing including health care needs, mental health, military sexual trauma, benefits and homelessness amongst women veterans.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, addressed the crowded auditorium and shared that women represent nearly eight percent of the overall women population and nearly six percent of all veterans that use the health care services at the VA.

“We expect that number to double in the next ten years,” he said. In 2009 alone the department experienced a 20-percent jump in the number of women using the health care facilities.

“Our goal is 100 percent accessibility to veterans that need us and we must anticipate and address the challenges faced by women,” Shinseki added.

Dr. Patricia Hayes, chief consultant, Women Veterans Health also told the crowded auditorium that in the Vietnam era only about three percent of the total active-duty population were made of women. That number today is nearly 15 percent. She added because of that the face of women veterans are also changing.

“Our new generation of veterans are young,” Hayes said, “[Currently], 47.3 percent are younger than 30 years old and 78 percent are less than age 40.”

Because of that, the VA has to tackle new needs such as reproductive health, flexible hours for working parents and increased appointment availability.

One of the main things they are trying to do is change the culture of how women are taken care of in the VA. Instead of transferring from doctor to doctor their hope is to have the whole scope of women’s health care covered in one visit.

At each VA Medical Center, Women Veterans program managers are also available to assist women veterans. They help coordinate all the services women need including primary care, medical services and even mental health and sexual abuse counseling.

There are many complexities with dealing with women in the VA, Shinseki told the crowd. “It becomes our responsibility not just to acknowledge the differences but to anticipate those changes and where they might lead us.”

The VA is also trying to make sure that women realize that they are veterans too and deserve the care that is being offered. Dr. Billie J. Randolph, deputy chief consultant of the VHA Prosthetics and Sensory Aids services received a thunderous applause from the audience when she added that people need to realize “women are not little men.”

Another issue that many women veterans are facing is homelessness. Peter Dougherty, director of the homeless veterans program said there are about 107,000 homeless veterans out on a given night and although the number of homeless veterans is decreasing the number of women are increasing. He said that women returning from war have unique risk factors for homelessness, such as trauma from sexual assault while in the military and lower earning potential than men. The VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development are working together to develop programs like HUD-VASH, that helps eligible homeless veterans find and retain stable independent housing and supportive services for at risk veterans.

The forum ended with a showing of Lioness, the story of the first group of women soldiers to be sent into direct ground combat and an information marketplace full of information and resources that would be useful for women veterans.

When asked about what is next after this forum Dr. Irene Trowell-Harris, director of the VA Center for Women Veterans said, “We put this forum together specifically for the women to look at the overall big picture to see how we could immediately implement policies, look what is being done and know what needs to be done for the future,” said Trowell-Harris.

One message that she wanted to get out is that many women don’t self identify as veterans because they have a perception that if they did not serve in combat they aren’t considered a veteran.

“If they served and had honorable discharged they are eligible for all the benefits and services that men get. The only difference is that women have gender-specific needs.”

Visit http://www1.va.gov/womenvet for more information on the Center for Women Veterans and services the VA has to offer women.