The Some Of The Issues Facing Our Nations Female Veterans Today

 

Many female military veterans return home not having a place to call home at the end of their military careers. Many find themselves homeless, unemployed and financially drained, some suffering from some form of mental issues, PTSD, physically disabled, socially and spiritually withdrawn. The veteran women sometimes find themselves with their children in very abusive relationships due to the fear of being homeless, codependency of alcohol and substance abuse. There are some instances wherein the women are often times alienated from their children and family due to these issues facing them.

 

The Department of Defense reports that there are 1.3 million women actively serving in the US Military. Did you know that in the late 1980s through 1990 women made up 25% of the homeless population, today women constitute half the population of all homeless people.

 

The 2011 GAO report titled Homeless Women Veterans: Actions Needed to Ensure Safe and Appropriate Housing (GAO-12-182) confirms that more than 60% of VA funded transitional housing programs did not accept children or placed restrictions on their age and number posing significant barriers for single mothers who are veterans.

 

The report also highlights that female veterans are significantly more likely to be single parents compared to their male counterparts which increases their risk of housing instability.

 

Data from the The US DEPARTMENT of Housing and Urban Development

 

Rising number of women Veterans who are homeless

 

Although it’s true that from 2020 to 2023, total homelessness among Veterans decreased by 4.5% from 37,252 to 35,574 homelessness among women Veterans actually increased by nearly 24% from 3,126 to 3,980 according to data from the 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In that same period, the number of unsheltered women Veterans those living on the streets, in a car or in another unsafe situation jumped nearly 48%, from 1,464 to 2,165.

 

While the general proportion of women Veterans experiencing homelessness is still low, the trend is concerning, given that VA estimates women are on track to make up 18% of all U.S. Veterans by 2040.

 

Factors That Contribute to Homelessness Among Veterans

 

Reducing and preventing homelessness among women Veterans starts by recognizing some of the contributing factors unique to them:

• Trauma. There’s evidence of a connection between women Veteran homelessness and trauma. Women Veterans who were homeless have told VA researchers that the experience of trauma before, during and after military service contributed to their housing instability.
• Military sexual assault. We also find that one in three women say “yes” when screened by VA health care for military sexual assault (MST), which is sexual assault or threatening sexual harassment during a person’s military service.
• Intimate partner violence. Many women Veterans who are homeless also report having a history of intimate partner violence.
• Poverty. Housing is a large expense for anyone, but studies show that women are more likely than men to be at risk of poverty.
• Single parenthood. Women also shoulder more of the costs of child-rearing, particularly as single parents.

Other Complex Challenges

 

Often connected to or worsened in service, can be common characteristics of women veterans experience of housing instability. These include childhood adversity, substance use, relationship termination, medical problems a post traumatic stress disorder diagnosis and unemployment

 

“Knowing is not enough we must apply. Willing is not enough we must do.”- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe