VA Study on Veteran Suicide Rate Leaves Out Women

by Brandann Hill-Mann · 2010-01-14 13:46:00 UTC
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Army ACU helmets aligned in a row on a bench in front of a row of matching uniform parts.A couple days ago, I noticed that the VA Watchdog reported on a Veterans' Affairs study, which found that the suicide rate is up among young veterans ages 18-29. In the face of two wars, I wasn't surprised by this tragic number.

I also wasn't surprised, albeit disappointed, that the VA only released numbers for male veterans.

I find it hard to believe that, with women making up roughly fifteen percent of the military, there are no women facing mental illness or emotional anxiety from experiences in the front lines. I don't believe for a moment that there are no women veterans who have committed suicide since 2005. In fact, The National Institute of Health has been doing studies on the rates of suicide among women vets versus civilian women (and their male counterparts) ... so where are the VA's numbers?

Are women not being counted because they are not receiving their care at VA centers? Is this because they have found that VA centers lack facilities that are specific to women's needs?

It's important to track the impact that fighting in wars has on people so we can offer the proper services to help lower these suicide numbers. It's obvious to be, given the lack of numbers from the VA, that women's needs are not being met. The suicide rates of veterans is something that must be addressed, and the VA is there to care for the needs of we who have served -- men and women both, despite what their motto says (To care for him who shall have borne the battle). They should be doing everything they can to address this problem across the spectrum of veterans.

Photo: The U.S. Army's Photostream on Flickr

Brandann Hill-Mann is a proggy-liberal, Native American, feminist, invisibly disabled, U.S. Navy Veteran currently living in South Korea on Uncle Sam's dime. She blogs at random babble... and FWD/Forward.
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