Women 14% of US Armed Forces and 5% of Homeless Vet Population

by Daniel J Gerstle · 2009-12-28 09:27:00 UTC
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If you haven't seen Ilona Meagher's website focused on combat-related post-traumatic stress among US soldiers and veterans, go here.

Meagher wrote a book called, Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops.

And this week, she's gathered a very useful collection of statistics on the military services with some of the following highlights. Better not to quote me directly here; go to Ilona's site and see the sources she cites for the study parameters and context...

  • For every soldier killed in Iraq and Afghanistan there are about nine who were wounded, compared to only three per death in previous conflicts (Boston Globe).

  • A Pentagon health survey revealed that about one in four US soldiers admitted to abusing prescription drugs (USA Today).

  • Worldwide, women make up about 14% of US active duty forces, higher than any previous record. (Philadelphia Enquirer).

  • Over 120 American women have been killed and 600 have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan (Philadelphia Enquirer).

  • Women make up about 5% of the homeless veteran population, roughly about 6,500 homeless female vets (Associated Press).

  • For more, go to the source: PTSD Combat Blog.

The only thing I would add is to remind everyone that post-traumatic stress-related issues do not affect all veterans, and plenty of people who are not soldiers, including refugees and former frontline aid workers, may have similar experiences. Peace.

[Photo: Veteran's Day Parade, Detroit, Wigwam Jones]

Daniel J Gerstle is a journalist, human rights researcher, and humanitarian aid consultant. He is Editor and Chief Correspondent for HELO: The Crisis Story Magazine.
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