Conference sheds light on struggles of female veterans
Billings GazetteMar 24, 2019
Githens, who retired from the
Her talk "Women Veterans and Challenges for Families," touched on the added stress and anxiety on female vets, military families and women currently serving in the military, and was part of the larger conference theme of helping veteran families.
During her 24 years of service, Githens was often one of few, if not the only woman on her assignments. Being the only woman confronted her with the realities of being a minority, something she hadn't experienced before.
"You go from growing up when you're 50-50, to going into the workforce and suddenly you're a minority," she said.
In the predominately male field, she saw the
For active military women, that includes harassment and sexual violence, stereotyping, and support services and policies that are male-dominated. Sometimes that means a difficulty finding health services for women, like an OB-GYN.
And active duty women in the military are increasing too, she said. Right now women account for over 16 percent of active duty members and over 20 percent in the Army Guard and Reserves, she said.
Overall the population of veterans has seen a decline, except for women veterans, she said. In
Female veterans are also the only population of veterans that is projected to grow in the next thirty years. The
But the effect of military service extends beyond members who serve.
"When you do the math that's about 70 percent that is female or family of our total service," Githens said. "Yet a lot of our services and focus really just go on our active duty side even though the entire community is affected."
Spouses of active duty members are often left to pick up the pieces when their partners are deployed.
"The services and help that needs to exist when those units deploy, to help those spouses that are left behind to carry that load for the family, is critical," she said. "That's mental health services, support network services, and medical services."
Githens knows all too well the stress of military service on family members. She has three kids, and her husband is also an
"Oftentimes we forget about those unsung heroes and those ones that are staying at home and keeping the home front running," she said.
For children, the stress of moving often and having a parent leave for long stretches of time can be damaging. And for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, their spouses need resources too.
"The members oftentimes got counseling but the family members didn't," she said. "So I had both male and female spouses that were dealing with their husband and wives that had some PTSD, and they themselves were not getting the help they too needed so they could have the tools in their toolbox of what to do or how to deal with it."
"It's important as we think about as a community how we help people in these situations," she said. "We have to help not just the member, but the entire community and the family structure behind it."
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