Embracing Diverse Women Veteran Narratives: Intersectionality and Women Veteran’s Identity

Abstract

As women's roles in the military have shifted and more women are serving in the military, the systems and organizations working with women veterans after military service have made few changes to reflect the diversity, roles, and experiences of women and have thus created a difficult context for women to develop an identity as a veteran. The effects of racism, heterosexism, sexual discrimination, harassment and violence, and other forms of oppression, as well the intersection of these and how they uphold the existing power structures in the military are crucial to understanding veteran identity yet are often overlooked by systems serving women veterans. Other examples of the need for more inclusive narratives for women veterans in services and organizations is the projected increase in the percentage of women veterans and the increased racial and ethnic diversity in the military. As the number of women veterans increases, organizations serving veterans can also provide support to develop self-efficacy, develop new programs, and change existing programming to assist women veterans in connecting in civilian society as veterans and better address their needs, including the accumulated effects of systematic oppression and discrimination they experienced in the military. The United States has approximately 2 million women veterans and less than 450,000 receive health care services through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The number of women using mental health and specialty care services through VHA was 176,526 in 2015. Between 2000 and 2015, the number of women veterans from racial and ethnic groups, other than white, increased from 30% to 42%, with Black women veterans making up 30% of the other racial and ethnic groups (Barroso, 2019). In 2015, 22% of women veterans used VHA services at least one time (Women's Health Evaluation Initiative, 2018). While the number of women veterans using VHA has increased, it is far lower than the number of women eligible for services. By 2045, the number of women veterans is projected to increase from 9% to 18% of the veteran population (Bialik, 2017). Applying the Intersectionality Framework to the Military and Veterans Honoring the Origin of Intersectionality Intersectionality was first defined by Kimberlé Crenshaw in an article in 1989 that addressed the intersection of race and sex and the experience of Black women being left out of Women veterans are the fastest-growing population of veterans, yet women still face many barriers while serving and after leaving the military. An often-overlooked aspect in research and literature is how women develop their identity as veterans from their experiences of racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, and other forms of oppression and discrimination while serving in the military and the invisibility or the lack of recognition as veterans after returning to civilian life. Few articles in the literature discuss intersectionality theory or framework in connection to military and women veterans' experience or the role of identity formation as a veteran due to these experiences or how it impacts women veterans' health outcomes. In this article, the role of institutional betrayal is explored as an additional barrier for women veterans as well as the intersec-tionality framework applied to the military as an institution. As the need for services for women veterans increase, understanding the impact of these intersections of identity and experiences of discrimination and oppression can be crucial in understanding the complexity of identifying as veterans and living in a society that does not see or value their experiences, as women or as veterans.