This month I received 39 phone calls at the office and had 11 people come in to discuss claims. I will be at the American Legion Post 72, Crawfordsville, from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday to give support to any veteran or spouse in need. You do not need to be an American Legion member to stop by.
The fastest growing demographic among U.S. military veterans is not a minority. It’s women. According to the last census, women comprise 50.8% of the U.S. population.
The VA estimates that by 2040, women will represent 18% of the military veteran population, up from just over 10% today. These numbers still tell us that the U.S. military is mostly a male institution. When civilian women see headlines about female soldiers being disproportionately harassed, abducted or assaulted, it’s understandable why many chose to not join the military.
It is imperative for national security that military service remain a viable and attractive opportunity for American women. Our all-volunteer force depends on it.
Women who serve, or have served in the past, are Legionnaires, neighbors, co-workers and friends. They have earned the title “veteran” just as much as any band of brothers. Receiving a cervical screening at a VA facility should be as routine as a male receiving a colonoscopy. Same for maternity care, mammograms and a host of services needed by veterans who possess XX chromosomes. Katie Purswell is deputy director of health policy for the American Legion, and an Army veteran. The findings she presented to the health subcommittee of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs should concern us all. One in four female veterans reported inappropriate sexual comments or behavior by male veterans on VA grounds ,according to Jacob Institute for Women’s Study. If you think this is a societal problem, you are minimizing the extent of what is happening in the veteran community. The same studies that revealed the 25% harassment rate among women at VA Facilities found only a 5% rate at their non-VA Counterparts.
Moreover, a 2018 study found that 26% of women and 14% of men who work at VA experienced sexual harassment, highest among all federal agencies.
“These findings point to a larger systemic issue that is a confluence of lack of leadership and a complacent culture where incidents of harassments are unheeded, Purswell told lawmakers.
On International Women’s Day this year, VA Secretary Denis McDonough delivered a promising message, “We provide a safe, inclusive, equitable environment for all employees and the veterans we serve. We must make good on Lincoln’s promise and our mission of caring for those who shall have borne the battle .That mission must be grounded in inclusion and diversity.”
Joe Ellis is the Montgomery County Veterans Officer. He can be reached at the Montgomery County Office Building, 110 W. South Blvd., Crawfordsville, IN 47933; by email at joe.ellis@montgomeryco.net; by landline telephone at 765-361-4133; or by cellphone at 765-401-0432.
