On the housekeeping front, I probably won’t be blogging much this week. I
have a conference in DC Wednesday through Friday, and I start classes tomorrow
night so…yeah, probably won’t happen. That said, chin up, I have nothing
interesting to say.
As you might imagine, I’m not a huge Memorial Day person. I appreciate
the troops, but as a rule don’t support any war, and I’m pretty disgusted by
the treatment of veterans after their return home, specifically women who were
sexually abused in the military. That said, I love that DC doesn’t enforce
parking regulations on federal holidays and day drinking.
I did find the time to read an article by Lizzie
Warren on Salon about homeless women veterans (see bring together all my
favorite things). Warren points out that while homelessness is dropping among
homeless male veterans it is rising quickly among female veterans, who are the
fastest growing homeless population in the nation. Warren who recently
completed production on her documentary
War Zone/Comfort Zone, which followed two women has they established
Connecticut’s first transitional, supportive house for women veterans. The
women spent more than four years trying to establish a home with fifteen beds
for women veterans and their children.
Women make up 14 percent of active duty service members and about 20
percent of the National Guard, and when they return home they are often met
with communities that aren’t equipped or are unwilling to assist them. Women
veterans face all kinds of issues upon returning home including low wages, lack
of childcare and family housing options, inadequate gender specific services at
the VA, and PTSD from combat and sexual trauma.
Military Sexual Trauma is cited as a specific trend in the stories of
women who are homeless after service. A study by Dr. Donna L. Washington of the
UCLA Medical Center and the VA of Greater Los Angeles, estimates more than half
of homeless women veterans are victims of sexual assault. Then they get out of
the military and the housing options for them are inadequate. One woman Warren
interviews, Lauren, who served as a military police officer, recalled what her
commanding officer told her when she reported being drugged and raped by a
member of her unit, “You’re just about to stir a pot of shit that we’re just
not willing to deal with right now.” [Classy] Lauren was able to move in with her
parents. Another woman, Caroline, a veteran raped by two fellow soldiers she
considered friends, resulted in a struggle with alcoholism and homelessness for
years. She hated the idea of going to the VA for help, “It’s almost like coming
back to your very rapist and saying help
me. Even though they’re not the actual rapist, they represent them because
that’s who they protected.” While Caroline was able to receive treatment from
the VA, she still has no place to live.
So Happy Memorial Day, think we can protect the women soldiers now? Actually,
I’d like a Memorial Day that includes the treatment of mental health as a
priority for all veterans upon returning home, but I doubt that will ever
happen.
