Women Warriors: the Current Issues Facing Women Veterans

Article submitted by Matt Hill and Hill and Ponton Disability Attorneys

Even though only about 10% of all U.S. veterans are women, this demographic often gets ignored and overlooked. Our women veterans have served just as their male counterparts, but women veterans face some specifically challenging obstacles when it comes to acclimating back into daily life after combat. This is why the Minneapolis VA recently sponsored a Women’s Health Week, to celebrate our women veterans and highlight the specific services and programs offered for these warriors. 

Women Veteran Health Risks

For some perspective on the issues facing women vets, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs compiled some statistics.

●     About 20% of women veterans have reported some form of Military Sexual Trauma (MST).

●     PTSD, hypertension, and depression are the top three ailments faced by women veterans.

●     Women veterans are four times as likely to experience homelessness than their male peers.

●     Low-income levels and homelessness directly impact a woman’s access to health care and proper gynecological services.

On a nationwide scale, the U.S. VA offers a variety of different services specifically for veterans including pelvic exams and mammography screening, family planning counseling and contraceptive services, menopause treatment, infertility testing, and sexual trauma therapy.

As a way to spread the word about these services, the Minneapolis VA held their Women’s Health Week. Each day was dedicated to a specific section of women’s health care such as maternity health, breast care, gynecology, mental health, and MST and interpersonal violence.

There are over 300,000 veterans in Minnesota. If you are a woman veteran looking for some additional resources from the VA, please contact the Minneapolis VA Patient Call Center at 866-414-5058.