- California has the highest number of female veterans. As of October 2009, the state was home to more than 167,000 female vets.
Source: California Department of Veterans Affairs
- Since the war in Afghanistan began in early 2001, more than 212,000 female service members have been deployed to the region, accounting for approximately 11 percent of the U.S. force there.
Source: CNN.com
- The Pentagon bans women from ground combat roles, a policy based in part on what it says is the overall civilian attitude that femininity is not compatible with combat, and that America will not tolerate the killing of its mothers and daughters. However, in Iraq and Afghanistan, wars being fought in the absence of official front lines, women find themselves "manning" machine guns, searching and arresting Iraqis, and driving along the same IED-ridden roads as their male counterparts.
Source: New York Times and NPR
- In March, the Department of Defense issued its annual report on sexual assault, citing an 11 percent increase in reported sexual assaults throughout the past year, and a 16 percent increase in incidents occurring in Iraq and Afghanistan. In total, there were more than 2,300 reports of sexual assault involving service members as victims or subjects.
Source: U.S. Department of Defense "2009 Annual Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Report"
- The trauma of combat, compounded by the prevalence of sexual assault, leaves many female veterans at risk for PTSD, depression and suicide. Researchers at Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University recently found that the suicide rate among female veterans age 18 to 35 is three times higher than non-veterans.
Source: "Self-Inflicted Deaths Among Women With U.S. Military Service: A Hidden Epidemic?" Psychiatric Services, December 2010
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article! Log in to Comment
You must be logged in to comment on an article. Not already a member? Register now