🚨 Why Ignoring Women Veteran Statistics Could Cost Lives

By Covenant of Courage | #ReasonableRanks Campaign

In today’s data-driven world, we often say, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it.” But when it comes to women veterans, our nation has failed to measure—let alone address—the full scope of their needs. The result? A silent crisis that’s costing lives.

📉 A Dangerous Data Gap

Women now make up the fastest-growing segment of the veteran population, projected to reach over 16% by 2043. Yet critical data on their health, housing, trauma, and reintegration needs is still fragmented, underreported, or overlooked entirely.

For example:

• The suicide rate for women veterans is nearly double that of non-veteran women.

• Women veterans are more likely to experience homelessness than civilian women.

• Over 25% report military sexual trauma (MST), yet many still struggle to receive proper recognition or care.

• VA disability claims by women, especially those related to reproductive health, PTSD, or MST, are more frequently denied or delayed.

These numbers aren’t just statistics—they represent real women slipping through the cracks of a system built for men.

🛑 The Risk of One-Size-Fits-All Policy

When policies, discharge procedures, and VA care models treat veterans as a uniform group, women fall behind.

From misdiagnosed PTSD to inadequate support for pregnancy during service, the failure to acknowledge gender-specific challenges leads to marginalization, miscare, and mistrust. Even seemingly neutral decisions—like discharging non-deployable pregnant women without reassignment options—compound the harm.

If we keep ignoring the data, we’re not just ignoring women veterans.

We’re endangering them.

🔍 Why It Matters to #ReasonableRanks

The #ReasonableRanks campaign is not just about policy reform—it’s about equity.

Women who become non-deployable due to pregnancy, injury, or trauma are too often forced out of service. These aren’t failures of fitness—they’re failures of imagination and inclusion.

What if, instead of discharge, we offered reassignment to admin, cyber, or mentorship roles?

What if we tracked their outcomes, needs, and success stories as carefully as we do their male counterparts?

What if we made the data work for them, not against them?

🛠️ What Needs to Change

1. Disaggregated Data – Require DoD and VA to report outcomes by gender and track success of women-specific initiatives.

2. Pregnancy & Postpartum Policy Reform – Create reassignment pathways rather than discharge for pregnant or postpartum service members.

3. Trauma-Informed Care Expansion – Expand access to MST and PTSD care designed for women.

4. Outreach & Research – Fund studies and grassroots programs that include rural and minority women veterans, not just urban centers.

💬 Their Lives Are Not Footnotes

Women veterans have served in war zones, led troops, flown planes, and endured sacrifice most will never understand. They deserve more than invisibility. They deserve policy that sees them.

Every ignored statistic is a missed opportunity to save a life.

Every delay in reform is a silent tragedy unfolding in real time.

Let’s fix what we failed to see.

📢 Join Us

📝 Sign the Petition → https://chng.it/5yXYvkBtMR

🌐 Learn More → www.covenantofcourage.com

📣 Use Your Voice → Share with #ReasonableRanks #WomenVeteransMatter