“Women have played an integral role in military operations since the American Revolution, from caring for the sick to picking up arms when necessary,” says the Department of Defense. Until recently, women who served in the armed services were protected from close quarter combat, but the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan changed all of that. In these wars, there is no defined front line. Women who are attached to a unit that comes under fire cannot be protected from the fighting, so they are subjected to the same hazards as their male counterparts. This has left female veterans vulnerable to the same physical and emotional wounds as men.
Unfortunately most veteran service providers are woefully unprepared for both the number of female veterans returning home and the kinds of services they need. Today, there are more women serving in the Armed Services than in all the wars since World War II put together. “America has sent thousands of women to war and we are fully expected to return to our roles as daughters, sisters, wives and mothers with little—if any help,” explains Ashleigh Bryant, Deputy Director of Communications for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and former Marine.
The problem is women are returning to a care network that was designed to treat men. In fact, 1/3 of all VA clinics do not even have a gynecologist on staff and almost none of them offer child-care facilities, forcing women to bring their children to all their medical appointments. This has resulted in a reduction in the number of female veterans who seek services from VA or veteran service providers. A recent report by the Disabled Veterans of America reveals that just 6.8% of female veterans seek treatment at VA every year. This number is startling when you consider that female veterans make up 10% of (or 220,000) of the 22 million veteran population.
Prior to 1973, Women were a small minority of the population of the Armed Services due to legislation that capped the number of women allowed to join the military at 2%. Consequently, most VA Hospitals and Veteran Service providers had very few female clients. Sadly, many service providers have no idea what war is like for the modern female veteran or how to help her transition back into civilian life.
For the thousands of female veterans unwilling or unable to seek the assistance they are entitled to receive, the transition back into civilian life can be difficult. “When I left the service, I filled out the forms, hung up the uniform and that was it. Nobody ever followed up with me to see how I was doing, not even for my mandatory post deployment health assessment. Women need a community that is there to support them. We feel more comfortable talking to women, particularly women who have shared similar experiences in the military. There are specialized services for women but VA has a long way to go before it is able to care for my sisters as well as it does the men who served,” says Ashleigh Bryant.
“Numerous female veterans feel an overwhelming sense of isolation says Heather Nystrom, Senior Manager of Social Services for the Volunteers of America. “ When I returned home from the Army, I was six months pregnant and I didn’t have anyone I could talk to who could relate to my experience as a woman that had served in the military or as a pregnant woman who was trying to find work. This was compounded by the fact, that VA and most of the other veteran services organizations always used male specific terminology when referring to veterans. It was as if female veterans didn’t exist,” Nystrom explains.
Female veterans have a much more difficult time finding work than male veterans. A recent study by the Disabled Veterans of America (DAV) found that the unemployment rate among recently discharged women veterans was 9.3% in 2013 versus about 8% for male veterans. The numbers get even worse when comparing veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Female veterans who served in these wars had an unemployment rate of 11.2% in December 2014, while the unemployment rate for men who fought in Iraq or Afghanistan was five points lower.
The Detroit VA HealthCare System is trying to reach out to female veterans and help them find gainful employment by holding a series of hiring fairs. These hiring fairs are different from the traditional job fair because employers who wish to participate must have available jobs they are looking to fill. “Our objective is to connect qualified women with employers,” says Dr. Melva Coleman, Chief of Social Work at the Detroit VA Medical Center. The Welcome Home 2015 Hiring Fair, which is sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Labor, will also offer assistance with resume writing, interviewing skills and military skills translation. Among the nearly 80 companies confirmed to attend are; General Dynamic Systems, Penske Logistics, DTE Energy, GM, St Johns Providence Health System, and Verizon.
The Hiring Fair, will be held Saturday, February 7, 2015 from 8:30 am-1:00 pm at the Detroit VA Medical Center located at 4646 John R. For more information please call (734) 222-7135.
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