Assistant Secretary Duckworth Honored at Women to Watch Awards

VA news release,

http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel

Assistant Secretary Duckworth Honored at Women to Watch Awards



WASHINGTON (May 6, 2009) - Yesterday, the Department of Veterans Affairs
Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, L. Tammy
Duckworth, was honored by Running Start at their annual Women to Watch
Awards in Washington, DC. She spoke to a crowd of 300 young women at a
ceremony at the National Press Club.



"We make our Nation stronger by supporting the 200,000 women currently
serving in the armed forces and the approximately 1.7 million women
Veterans in our country that need our help," Assistant Secretary L.
Tammy Duckworth said. "It's time to stop being surprised that America's
daughters are fully capable of doing their jobs and fighting for our
freedoms. I recognize that I am here today because I stand on the
shoulders of the men and women who opened the doors for women to serve."



Running Start is a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring young
women to run for political office. It offers high school and college
women the unique opportunity to hear from today's leaders. By educating
young women about the importance of politics and giving them the skills
they need to become leaders, they give them the running start they need
to reach their aspirations.



Assistant Secretary Duckworth was introduced by State Representative
Linda Chapa LaVia from the state of Illinois. She was recognized as a
"Woman to Watch" by Running Start along with Erin Issabelle Burnett,
CNBC Television Anchor; Betsy Fischer, Executive Producer of Meet the
Press; Julie Gilbert, Founder and CEO of Wolf Means Business; and Mona
Sutphen, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Obama Administration.

Senator Murray introduces legislation for women veterans

I was sent this from Cornelia Huebscher. Please pass this on and make some calls as soon as you can. Do this in memory of the fight my friend Irish waged for so many years.

NAMI VETERANS COUNCIL
Cornelia Huebscher
Veteran/ U.S. Army
NAMI Alaska Liaison to NVC
Chair/Women Veterans Subcommittee to NVC
Chair/NAMI Vets Alaska
huebscher@acsalaska.net
http://www.nami.org/





Von: McAlvanah, Matt (Murray)
Datum: 16-Mar-09 10:28:25
An: undisclosed-recipients:,
Betreff: WOMEN VETERANS: Murray Introduces Bi-Partisan Legislation to Prepare VA for Rapidly Growing Number of Women Veterans



United States Senate



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Alex Glass (Murray) – (202)-224-2834

Monday, March 16, 2009 Jeff Sadosky (Hutchison) - (202) 224-9767

Disabled American Veterans - (202) 554-3501

Rachel MacKnight (Mikulski) - (202)-228-1122

Natalie Ravitz or David Frey (Boxer) - (202) 224-8120

Julia Wanzco (Snowe) - (202) 224-1304

Julianne Fisher (Johnson) – (202) -224-1638

Katie Laning Niebaum (Lincoln) - (202) 224-4843

Michael Brumas (Murkowski) - (202) 224-9301

Meghan Dubyak (Brown) - (202) 224-3978



WOMEN VETERANS: Murray Introduces Bi-Partisan Legislation to Prepare VA for Rapidly Growing Number of Women Veterans



Legislation will address unique needs of women veterans, provide improved care for Military Sexual Trauma, and explore the effects service in Iraq and Afghanistan has had on female veterans



(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, introduced major bi-partisan legislation to prepare the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for the influx of women veterans who will access care there in the coming years. Senator Murray’s bill, the Women Veterans Health Improvement Act of 2009, will address many of the unique needs of female veterans, particularly those women who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is the lead co-sponsor of the legislation and has also played a vocal role in ensuring the VA meets the unique needs of female veterans.



“Women have stepped up to serve at unprecedented levels,” said Senator Murray. “Which means the VA is now faced with unprecedented challenges in caring for them as they return home. This bill addresses the unique challenges women face by providing specialized care for the visible and invisible wounds of war. As more women begin to transition home, and step back into lives as mothers, wives, and citizens, the VA must be there for them.”



“Women serving in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and performing dangerous missions throughout the world make up an important and growing segment of our veteran population. The number of women veterans receiving care through the VA is expected to double in less than five years,” said Senator Hutchison. “Our bill will help improve access to quality health care services for women who have bravely served in our armed forces.”



“Generations of women have served honorably in all of this country’s major conflicts. These women have earned the right to expect the same high quality health care services and benefits as their male counterparts,” said Dave Gorman, Executive Director of Disabled American Veterans (DAV). “While significant progress has been made in recent years to remove institutional barriers that often discourage women veterans from seeking assistance at VA facilities, more needs to be done. The Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act will help ensure these women have equal access to VA benefits and services. DAV is proud to have worked on this legislation with Senator Murray, who has proven herself time and again to be a steadfast and effective champion for all of America’s veterans.”



Senators Murray and Hutchison’s bill was co-sponsored by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Susan Collins (R-ME), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Lisa Murkowski (D-AK), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH).



“The brave women of our military have been fighting side-by-side in Iraq and Afghanistan with our men in uniform so that we may live in freedom – they deserve the same support from the government when they return home,” Senator Mikulski said. “There is currently an unprecedented number of women defending their country at war. We owe them a debt of gratitude, and that means making sure they have a VA health care system that meets their needs.”



“More women are serving in the military today than at any time and this number is only growing. They face unique challenges and the VA must be prepared to meet their needs,” said Senator Boxer.



“With over 10,000 women veterans in Maine, and almost two million across the nation, each are patriots that have answered their nation’s call, and it is essential the nation be there for them when they return to the homefront and their families,” Senator Snowe said. “I am honored to join with my colleagues to introduce this bill today that rightfully recognizes and addresses issues with which many of these veterans and their families are managing today.”



“Our women vets have served courageously and selflessly alongside their fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines. The time has come that we recognize the unique needs of these veterans by respecting their differences and addressing the inequities that may exist in the system,” said Senator Johnson, Chairman of the Senate Military Construction / VA Appropriations Subcommittee.



“This legislation will help ensure that our women in the military return home to a high quality health care system that they certainly deserve and have earned. I am proud to recognize the invaluable service that our service members have made, and I will continue to assist those who do so much to protect our nation,” said Senator Lincoln.



“For far too long, the VA has operated with a “one size – fits all” culture,” said Senator Murkowski. “Those days are gone. The physical, mental and reproductive health challenges that face women veterans may require a different menu of services, delivered in a different way than the VA has grown accustomed. This legislation sends a powerful wake-up call that America’s 1.7 million women veterans earned their benefits too and it is time for the VA to step up and meet its needs.”



“American service women need to know that their commitment to this country is both recognized and honored,” said Senator Brown. “We must meet the obligations of every veteran in a way that reflects their bravery and sacrifice. This bill would expand the VA’s resources to address gaps in services and provide women with access to benefits they have earned.”



Among other things, the legislation introduced today will:

· Require the VA to implement a program to train, educate, and certify VA mental health professionals to care for women with sexual trauma

· Require the VA Secretary to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the barriers women are facing in accessing care at the VA.

· Authorize a report to Congress on the effects the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have had on the physical, mental, and reproductive health of women who have served there.

· Require the VA to begin a pilot program that provides child care to women veterans that seek mental health care services at the VA.

· Require the VA to begin a pilot program that provides readjustment counseling to women veterans in group retreat settings.



Senators Murray and Hutchison introduced similar legislation last year in the 110th Congress which passed the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee before the Senate session ended.



For Detailed Information on the Women Veterans Health Improvement Act of 2009 visit: http://murray.senate.gov/veterans/women-vets-2009.pdf

Matt McAlvanah

Press Secretary

U.S. Senator Patty Murray

202-224-0228

matt_mcalvanah@murray.senate.gov

Grace After Fire, online group for women after war

Grace After Fire
Grace After Fire is a resource solely for women veterans to support their need to connect with each other and share yet remain anonymous. These women can reach out to others who have experienced the same concerns of re-entry, alcoholism, drug addiction, or prescription addiction due to chronic pain, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), incidents of service time rape, depression, unwarranted anger or traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to wartime trauma.

Go to http://www.graceafterfire.org/

NOONIE FORTIN
1SG, USAR (Ret)
Author and Speaker
Researcher and Consultant
http://www.nooniefortin.com/
http://www.colonelmaggie.com/
http://www.talesandwhalespublishing.com/
www.myspace.com/nooniefortin

My video Women at War


My video, The Voice, Women At War


This video shows the rich history of women in the military. I used some of Noonie's information in this video.

Advisory Committee on Women Veterans; Notice of Meeting

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Advisory Committee on Women Veterans; Notice of Meeting

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) gives notice under Public
Law 92-463 (Federal Advisory Committee Act) that the Advisory Committee
on Women Veterans will meet October 28-30, 2008 at the Capital Hilton,
16th and K Street, NW., Washington, DC, from 8:30-4:30 p.m., each day.
The meeting is open to the public.

The purpose of the Committee is to advise the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs regarding the needs of women veterans with respect to health
care, rehabilitation, compensation, outreach, and other programs and
activities administered by the VA designed to meet such needs. The
Committee will make recommendations to the Secretary regarding such
programs and activities.

On October 28, the agenda will include overviews of the Veterans
Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, the
National Cemetery Administration, an update on the 2008 Advisory
Committee on Women Veterans Report, and an update on the activities
conducted by the Center for Women Veterans. On October 29, the agenda will include
discussion on legislation related to women veterans, women veterans'
health, updates to recommendations made in the 2008 Advisory Committee
on Women Veterans Report, updates from the Department of Labor, and
VA's suicide prevention initiatives. On October 30, the agenda will
include updates on rural health, military sexual assault prevention and
response programs, and VA's homeless programs. The agenda is tentative
and is subject to change.

Any member of the public wishing to attend should contact Ms.
Shannon L. Middleton, at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Center for
Women Veterans (00W), 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420.
Ms. Middleton may be contacted either by phone at (202) 461-6193, fax
at (202) 273-7092, or e-mail at 00W@mail.va.gov. Interested persons may
attend, appear before, or file statements with the Committee. Written
statements must be filed before the meeting, or within 10 days after
the meeting.


go here for more
http://regulations.justia.com/view/122236/

Peake promises better care to women veterans too

VA secretary: Care of women vets will improve

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jun 21, 2008 17:32:31 EDT

WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake told women veterans on Friday that the agency is working to eliminate disparities in the care offered to women and men.

An internal review by the VA submitted to Congress last week found that women veterans aren’t getting the same quality of outpatient care as men in about one-third of the VA’s 139 facilities that offer it.

“We are making a full-court press to ensure that women veterans receive the highest quality of care,” Peake said, speaking at the National Summit on Women Veterans’ Issues, put on by the VA and veterans service organizations.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/ap_women_va_062008/

Study: Women vets get lesser care some places

Study: Women vets get lesser care some places

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jun 13, 2008 10:30:55 EDT

WASHINGTON — Women veterans aren’t receiving the same quality of outpatient care as men at many Department of Veterans Affairs’ facilities, according to an agency review obtained exclusively by The Associated Press.

The review appears to validate the complaints of advocates and some members of Congress who have said the health care system needs to focus more on women’s health.

Women make up about 5 percent of VA’s population, but that number is expected to nearly double in the next two years as more women return home from Iraq and Afghanistan and seek care.

The review of the quality of care at VA facilities, which was mandated by Congress, found that at about one-third of its facilities, the quality of outpatient care given to women wasn’t as good as what was offered to men.

It said that VA has made strides in improving care for women veterans, such as creating on-site mammography services and establishing women’s clinics at most of its medical centers. It also said VA is attempting to recruit clinicians with training in women’s care and broadening its approach to better address diseases prevalent among women such as lung cancer.

However, it said that there were barriers that remained, such as the need to train more physicians in women’s care and for more equipment to meet women’s health needs.

“VHA is continuing to investigate the possibility of gender disparity in delivery of care through research efforts aimed at further delineating the factors involved,” the review said.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/ap_womenvets_061308/

For Women Warriors, Deep Wounds, Little Care

For Women Warriors, Deep Wounds, Little Care

By HELEN BENEDICT
Published: May 26, 2008
THIS Memorial Day, as an ever-increasing number of mentally and physically wounded soldiers return from Iraq, the Department of Veterans Affairs faces a pressing crisis: women traumatized not only by combat but also by sexual assault and harassment from their fellow service members. Sadly, the department is failing to fully deal with this problem.


Women make up some 15 percent of the United States active duty forces, and 11 percent of the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly a third of female veterans say they were sexually assaulted or raped while in the military, and 71 percent to 90 percent say they were sexually harassed by the men with whom they served.

This sort of abuse drastically increases the risk and intensity of post-traumatic stress disorder. One study found that female soldiers who were sexually assaulted were nine times more likely to show symptoms of this disorder than those who weren’t. Sexual harassment by itself is so destructive, another study revealed, it causes the same rates of post-traumatic stress in women as combat does in men. And rape can lead to other medical crises, including diabetes, asthma, chronic pelvic pain, eating disorders, miscarriages and hypertension.

The threat of post-traumatic stress has risen in recent years as women’s roles in war have changed. More of them now come under fire, suffer battle wounds and kill the enemy, just as men do.

As women return for repeat tours, usually redeploying with their same units, many must go back to war with the same man (or men) who abused them. This leaves these women as threatened by their own comrades as by the war itself. Yet the combination of sexual assault and combat has barely been acknowledged or studied.
click post title for more

VA treated 255,000 female veterans in 2007

VA struggles to gear up to care for female veterans
By Les Blumenthal McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Two nightmares haunt Robin Milonas.

While serving in Afghanistan in 2004 as an Army Reserve civil affairs officer, the former lieutenant colonel got lost in a minefield while leading a small convoy delivering school supplies to civilians. Even more troubling is the memory of a man who arrived at the main gate of Bagram Air Base carrying a young boy whose leg had been blown off by a land mine.

"I was an outgoing, energetic, determined good soldier who wanted to make the Army a career," said Milonas, of Puyallup, Wash., who just turned 50. "Now I am broken."

Milonas is one of roughly 180,000 women who've been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. While they don't officially serve in combat, they have experienced life in a war zone where there are no front lines.

And as they return home, they're increasingly turning to an already overtaxed Department of Veterans Affairs for help. Last year, the VA treated more than 255,000 female veterans. The number is expected to double within five years.

VA officials say they're better prepared to handle female patients than they were several years ago. But they acknowledge "continual challenges" as they move to open the door to a man's world, where pap smears and mammograms could become as common as prostate exams.

And where "military sexual trauma" would be treated as a serious and growing mental health problem, rather than as a subject to be avoided.

"It's not your father's VA — it really isn't," said Patricia Hayes, the VA's national director of women's health care issues. "We have geared up and are gearing up. But there are places that may have gaps."
go here for more

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/37409.html

Women Veterans finding help from peers

Women Veterans Returning Home From the War are Finding Help from Their Peers
Posted:

April 4, 2008 08:08 PM EDT

Women Veterans Returning Home From the War are Finding Help from Their Peers

KOLD News 13 News Anchor Dan Marries
As the struggle to win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continues, so does the road to recovery for returning veterans. More than 1.5 million men and women have served on the battlefields over there and this weekend some of them are finding help in Tucson. Close to 191,000 U.S. troops are currently on the ground in the Middle East. More than 4,000 have paid the ultimate price, and nearly 30,000 have been wounded. Abel Moreno from Vets 4 Vets says for some of those who do make it home, the battle scars aren't always visible, "war is difficult and the reintegration process is just as difficult."
Moreno knows; he served seven years in the Army's 82nd Airborne. Two of those years were in Iraq and Afghanistan, "myself being a veteran and understanding that I think it's just as hard or even harder for women veterans who return back into society, and that's where our organization takes precedence." That organization is Vets 4 Vets. A group dedicated to Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. This weekend the group's sponsoring a workshop for women veterans in Tucson, "I am a veteran and a mother," Astin Tedford, an Iraq combat veteran says proudly, "so I take pride in being both and I work hard everyday at being the best in both worlds. It's definitely a struggle, and it's a healing process that will take a long time."
You might be surprised at the number of war time women. According to Vets 4 Vets, so far 182,000 women have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, 16,000 of them are single mothers, 8,000 are homeless, and 3,800 are homeless, "so part of Vets 4 Vets is we have the camaraderie," says U.S. Navy veteran Tia Christopher, "we get to laugh and come together and horse back ride and relax in the sun but also we can talk about some of the challenging issues we might not feel comfortable talking about with everybody but we can talk about it with our peers." Vets 4 Vets is a non profit organization and it does not charge veterans for these weekend workshops. You can help out by making a monetary donation.
If you'd like to do so or just want more information here's the link
http://www.vets4vets.us/.
You can also e-mail Vets 4 Vets at vets4vets@gmail.com
or call (520) 319-5500.

4 Year Later, Women Veterans Summit In DC

Record your Oral History At the Summit - BY APPOINTMENT ONLY
Contact: oralhistory@womensmemorial.org

We are pleased to announce Summit 2008
Dates: June 20-22, 2008
Location: Westin Washington DC City Center
1400 M Street, NW, Washington, DC, 20005
Registration Fee: Free ( limited to the first 300)

This fourth National Summit promises to be the best yet:
Providing meaningful updates on issues raised in the Summit held in 2004
Addressing new and breaking issues
Offering attendees an opportunity to shape a plan for future progress on women veterans issues
Providing information for women veterans of all eras, including National Guard, Reserves, and active duty
Offering a Health Expo on Saturday, June 21
Introducing, for the first time, a Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, June 21!
Please view the links below to obtain information with regards to registration, exhibiting,and hotel accommodations.
Registration Information
Traveler Fact Sheet
Summit Agenda
Exhibit Registration Information

Ladies, VA Watchdog wants to hear from you on the VA

From Larry Scott, VAWatchdog.

VA CLAIMS IT IS REACHING OUT TO WOMEN VETERANS --

But, what do you say, women veterans? Is this really the case?

I get lots of email from women veterans.

Almost all of it has unkind things to say about the VA and VA services for women.

Now, the VA is touting the great job they do for women veterans in the press release below.

Is this really so?

Well, women, here's your chance to let me know more. Send me an email about your VA experiences...and we'll get them posted as a response to the VA's claim of "reaching out" to you.

Email me here... email Larry
We will not use your name or any identifying information.

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAR08/nf032808-4.htm

For what caused Larry to ask click below.

http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/2008/03/va-reaches-out-to-women-veterans.html

The government likes to say it's doing this and it's doing that, but when you get right down to it, if they were doing half the things they say they are doing, there wouldn't be this many reports coming out on what they are not doing.

VA Reaches Out to Women Veterans

VA Reaches Out to Women Veterans

March 27, 2008

Women Vets Have Earned “Benefits, Respect, Thanks” – Peake
Fourth National Summit on Women Veterans Issues Begins June 20

WASHINGTON -- Recognizing the valor, service and sacrifice of America’s 1.7 million women veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has created a comprehensive array of benefits and programs.

“Women who served this country in uniform -- whether veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, the current Global War on Terror or peacetime service -- have earned our respect and thanks,” said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “They have also earned the full range of VA programs offered by a grateful nation.”

Secretary Peake also announced the Fourth National Summit on Women Veterans Issues to be held from June 20 – 22 in Washington D.C. The Summit will offer attendees an opportunity to enhance future progress on women veterans issues, with sessions specifically for the Reserve and National Guard, information on military sexual trauma and readjustment issues, after the military veteran resources and many more programs and exhibits.

http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAR08/nf032808-4.htm

Minnesota Female Veterans Face Unique Challenges

Thursday, March 27, 2008
Coming home

Minnesota female veterans face unique challenges

Although the numbers of female veterans are increasing, the lack of studies and information about female veterans makes it difficult to gauge the needs of returning female soldiers. Mainstream media coverage of returning veterans often makes little or no mention of the women who served. Andrea Lindgren, a state researcher with the Minnesota Office on the Economic Status of Women (OESW) commented on the difficulty of identifying the specific needs of female veterans. "There's not a lot of information out there," said Lindgren. "I think it's cultural-there may be a hesitancy to acknowledge that there exist issues related to being female."

by Kendall Anderson

Chante Wolf was in the U.S. Air Force for 12 years, returning to civilian life in 1992 after the first Gulf war. But the soldier-turned-activist has traveled a long road to resolving the trauma of what she calls regular sexual harassment and near-rape while serving her country.

"It's only recently that I started dealing with-started talking about in therapy-the sexual stuff, knowing that the longer this goes on the deeper this wound will go," said Wolf, now 50. "You just bury it."

The stress first surfaced in verbal attacks against her parents. Added to the normal anxiety veterans often face-Wolf slept with a loaded .357 magnum under her pillow during her first few years back-the sexual trauma nearly put the veteran over the top. She drank herself to sleep for many years.

That extra anguish from sexual assault and sexual harassment is not something every female vet experiences. But it's one of several challenges female vets face when returning to civilian life. So is returning to societal norms of female behavior and resuming parenting and other family roles that may differ dramatically from being a soldier. That's something Gina Sanders can testify to.

Becoming mom again
Sanders (not her real name), 25, came home to her son and found he was not quite the same. A sergeant who had served in Iraq, she had to accept that her toddler had experienced milestones without her. Her son's father took over parenting-and continued even after she first returned from duty.

"Coming home to your family, you're very happy to be home. You're thinking that the family you come home to are the same as when you left, which is not true-they had their own struggles while you're away," said Sanders, 25.

Eager as she is to become her son's most important parent-Sanders is a single mom-she also misses aspects of the life she left behind, especially the female soldiers who shared her experiences. The pleasure of being with her son has been the best part of coming home.

"It is a difficult transition coming home from the deployment. We tend to come back as stronger, more independent women," said Brandi N. Wilson, women veterans coordinator, Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. Wilson sees among women vets challenged by parenting and interpersonal relating. She added that female vets often have a harder time finding the support they need.

Female vets and rape:
Nearly one-third of a nationwide sample of female veterans seeking V.A. health care said they experienced rape or attempted rape during their service. Among them:
• 37 percent said they were raped multiple times
• 14 percent reported they were gang-raped.


Family matters
43% of female vets have at least one child, compared to 22% of male vets.
56% of female vets are married, compared to 72% of male vets.

click above for the rest

Female Veterans Find Help With Emotional Wounds

Female Veterans Find Help With Emotional Wounds at Batavia Facility

Lou Michel


The Buffalo News

Mar 25, 2008

March 24, 2008 - After the improvised explosive and rifle attacks from the enemy, and after the sexual assaults and harassment from their own comrades, some female veterans find their way to the red brick house in Batavia to heal.

As if the horrors of war were not enough, women in uniform have been under assault for years in a culture that has failed to vanquish sexual attacks and harassment against them. Just last week, the Pentagon released figures indicating that one-third of military women are sexually harassed and many others sexually assaulted.

So the need for the red brick house at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Batavia is well documented.

It is home to a post-traumatic stress program exclusively for female veterans and is one of only four such facilities in the country.

Up to six women can be accommodated at the home, and when discharged, they are expected to continue with rigorous outpatient services. Healing does not come overnight.

“It’s very new for the VA and for the world,” said Dr. Terri F. Julian, manager of the VA’s post-traumatic stress program in Batavia.

Many of the female veterans who enter this cozy two-story house with its “Welcome Home” sign had been attacked by men — and sometimes women — who wore the same uniform and swore the same oath to defend the United States as they did.
go here for the rest
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/9668

Female Veterans Decry Institutional Sexism in Military

Veterans Decry Institutional Sexism in Military

By Liliana Segura, AlterNet. Posted March 17, 2008.

Gender panel at Winter Soldier conference suggests pattern of condescending to outright sexist behavior in the armed forces.

"I joined the military to defend my country, not my integrity and self-worth." So said an eight-year veteran of the National Guard named Abby Hiser on day three of the Winter Soldier hearings outside Washington D.C. Speaking at a packed morning session titled "Divide to Conquer: Gender and Sexuality in the Military," her fellow panelists were mostly female vets slated to address everything from the military's Don't Ask Don't Tell policy to sexual assault within the ranks. But rather than personal recollections of sexual humiliation or violence -- and in sharp contrast to horror stories told by previous speakers describing their slaughter of Iraqi civilians -- the testimonials that morning revealed more about the kind of institutional sexism that, as an intractable power dynamic, defines the lives of women in uniform.

As soldiers, then as veterans, and, even now, as members of the anti-war movement, women in the military are still fighting to be taken seriously. "It's hard to be a veteran of the war and a woman," said Iraq vet Patty McCann. "... A lot of times my experience gets boiled down to what I experienced as a woman -- and I don't get to talk about some of the things that I experienced as a soldier."

Wendy Barranco couldn't agree more. Trained as a combat medic and deployed in Tikrit between October 2005 and July 2006, she worked in a medical unit where the gender ratio was "about 50/50," mostly male doctors and female nurses. ("A traditional hospital setting," she joked.) On the panel, she had described being sexually harassed nearly every single day of her deployment by a high-ranking surgeon who had fulfilled her request to be moved to the operating room. Feeling she owed him something in return, "this person would catch me alone or push up against me," she said -- but he stopped short of getting too physical. As she put it, "he knew exactly what he was doing."

Wendy never reported him -- "I knew command wasn't going to do anything about it, so there was no point" -- in no small part because it would end up being her word against his. Besides, she said, "are they gonna get rid of the guy whose making decisions and saving lives, or me, the disposable specialist?"

On the panel, describing the dread she felt going to work every day knowing that she had to be constantly watching her back, Wendy had briefly broken down, frustrated, muttering, "I hate to be the girl." Later, when asked about the sense that she was viewed first as a woman rather than a soldier, she said, "it's definitely true."

"You're seen as, like, the 'weight,'" she said. "The weakly being." Even in its less egregious forms, sexist attitudes were often the norm. "There's a sense of, oh, now we've got a woman, now I've gotta pick up her baggage and mine." Yet it was rarely discussed. Wendy called the sexist power dynamic in the military "the big pink elephant in the room."

Fellow veteran and Iraq Veterans Against the War member Jen Hogg agreed that the attitude of male soldiers could range from condescending to outright sexist. As a mechanic on reserve duty, she often had to work with cumbersome equipment that invited perceptions that she was weaker and less capable. If male soldiers tried to help, "they weren't trying to be rude" -- but it did play into a power dynamic that leaves female soldiers treated like second-class citizens.
go here for the rest
http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/79877/

A Third of Military Women Surveyed Say They Suffer Sexual Harassment

Military women report harassment

A Third of Military Women Surveyed Say They Suffer Sexual Harassment

PAULINE JELINEK
AP News

Mar 14, 2008 14:33 EST

One-third of women in the military and 6 percent of men said they were sexually harassed, according to the latest Pentagon survey on the issue.


The figure for women was worse than the previous finding several years ago but better than a similar survey taken in 1995, the Defense Department said in a report Friday. The Defense Manpower Data Center said it compiled the data from a survey of 24,000 people in 2006.

A separate report on sexual assaults showed that fewer cases were reported among military personnel in 2007 after years of significant increases.

There were 2,688 sexual assaults reported last year by people in uniform, the figures showed. That was down about 9 percent from the 2,947 reported the year before.

Officials said some changes in the method of reporting data made it difficult to compare numbers year to year. In 2005, there were about 2,400 sexual assaults reported.
click post title for the rest

Women Veterans lacking care at Muskogee VA

The emails I get are kept private unless the sender whats it posted.


The following was left as a comment on my blog post about women veterans. It is important that ALL veterans are taken care of. To have Muskogee VA sending women away because there is not a female nurse on duty at the time it a disgrace! How many women is this happening to? There is no excuse for a VA hospital or even a clinic to turn any veteran away!

"The primary mission of the Center for Women Veterans is to review VA programs and services for women veterans, and assure that women veterans receive benefits and services on a par with male veterans, encounter no discrimination in their attempt to access them, and are treated with the respect, dignity, and understanding by VA service providers."It's too bad the REAL VA doesn't abide by the above mentioned reference to "accessible care" and women being treated with "respect, dignity and understanding." If this were true, I as a 100% PTSD service connected female veteran, would be receiving the medical care, medicine and psych therapy that I SHOULD have been getting (for the last 20 years).
You see, I live in Oklahoma and in this state, female veterans are treated like we're invisible. I've been hospitalized 10 times and had 6 major surgeries. All done privately after being turned away repeatedly from the VA ER. Yes, turned away!!! Why you ask? I was turned away because the VA's policy here in Oklahoma is that a female nurse MUST be on duty and able to attend to female veterans.The Muskogee VA hospital has always used the excuse that they had NO female nurses "on duty" anytime I was "in medical need.Oh yeah, and I can't help but be reminded as a female veteran with kidney failure, massive internal bleeding, and very near death that my condition was LABELED as NON_URGENT by the Muskogee VA in 2003. Thus I have been forced to seek ALL my care privately, live on credit cards to to high prescription costs, and forced INTO FINANCIAL CRISIS due to a "$50,000" second mortgage incurred to RE-pay medical bills (ALL because the Muskogee VA has CHOSEN to REFUSE treating me. I must not forget to mention that I have suffered the loss of my right kidney, been bedridden and home-bound and have had to receive medical care AS A CHARITY CASE to stay ALIVE.So your comment about fair, respectful, accessible VA medical care for female vets....YEAH RIGHT,only in a perfect world where women are actually valued as HUMANS!!!travelvet@gmail.com(I'd like to reveal my name. But I've been receiving harassment and threats from the VA doctors. Yeah, I've tried to talk to patient advocates (another joke) and even Senators (a bigger joke). Nobody cares!!!

November 19, 2007 3:06 AM
Kathie Costos said...
travelvet, I didn't make the comment, the link did. I think the way all veterans are treated is evil. What keeps getting lost is the fact there are so many female veterans and so little being done for them. Correction, a lot keeps being lost in all of this.There is a push on right now to put Iraq and Afghanistan veterans to the head of the line but instead of taking care of all veterans, the older ones are pushed to the back. My husband was being seen by two doctors every month for PTSD. Now he is seeing them every three months. I'm going to copy your comment and post it so that everyone reads it. I wish I could say that your story is not happening all over the country, but each state has been just as inept as the federal government has been on taking care of all veterans.
November 19, 2007 8:57 AM