Women serving in the military face both professional and personal challenges everyday.
Family
Female soldiers cite "the amount of time separated from family" as the most important reason for leaving the military before retirement."
Military life appears to take a greater toll on their marriages. Female troops suffer a much higher divorce rate than do the men in uniform. Their marriages failed at almost triple the rate in 2008 -- 9.2 percent, versus 3.3 percent for male troops.
Health Care
Current law bans Department of Defense (D.o.D) funding of abortion except in the case of life endangerment. This ban means that military women and their family members who receive their health insurance from D.o.D. and find themselves survivors of rape or incest will not receive any coverage for abortion care. Military women are receiving less than the coverage provided to civilians who also receive health insurance through federal government. This includes the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan.
Career Advancement
Women are under-represented in the higher ranks of the military and have lower promotion rates than their male counterparts. By law women are excluded from combat jobs (Infantry, Field Artillery, Armor, Air Defense Artillery, Combat Engineers, Special Forces) which is typically the path for promotions and selection for command.
Male Perspective
On ships, when working males could take their shirts of if it became to hot, but since women are around they are not allowed to take their shirts off.
Males and Females need to have different locations to change clothing when in field or training etc.
Submarines spend money to accommodate female living such as outfitting submarine bathrooms to accommodation for personal hygiene items and proper disposal systems.
Sexual Assault
- Separately, women in the military have been "coping with significant and under-reported
sexual assault and harassment for decades." In 2008, reports of sexual assaults were up 9% from the year before, but the
military believes that the numbers are under-reported and that many victims, fearing reprisals, wait until after leaving the armed forces to tell their stories.
- 3,192 Sexual Assaults were reported out of an estimated 19,000 between 1 Oct 2012 to 31 Sept. 2011.
As a result, the Department of Veterans Affairs screens for what it calls military sexual trauma, or MST, a
term the agency uses for sexual harassment and assault. Through May 2007, almost 15 percent of female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have gone to the VA for care have screened positive for MST.
Family
Female soldiers cite "the amount of time separated from family" as the most important reason for leaving the military before retirement."
Military life appears to take a greater toll on their marriages. Female troops suffer a much higher divorce rate than do the men in uniform. Their marriages failed at almost triple the rate in 2008 -- 9.2 percent, versus 3.3 percent for male troops.
Health Care
Current law bans Department of Defense (D.o.D) funding of abortion except in the case of life endangerment. This ban means that military women and their family members who receive their health insurance from D.o.D. and find themselves survivors of rape or incest will not receive any coverage for abortion care. Military women are receiving less than the coverage provided to civilians who also receive health insurance through federal government. This includes the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan.
Career Advancement
Women are under-represented in the higher ranks of the military and have lower promotion rates than their male counterparts. By law women are excluded from combat jobs (Infantry, Field Artillery, Armor, Air Defense Artillery, Combat Engineers, Special Forces) which is typically the path for promotions and selection for command.
Male Perspective
On ships, when working males could take their shirts of if it became to hot, but since women are around they are not allowed to take their shirts off.
Males and Females need to have different locations to change clothing when in field or training etc.
Submarines spend money to accommodate female living such as outfitting submarine bathrooms to accommodation for personal hygiene items and proper disposal systems.
Sexual Assault
- Separately, women in the military have been "coping with significant and under-reported
sexual assault and harassment for decades." In 2008, reports of sexual assaults were up 9% from the year before, but the
military believes that the numbers are under-reported and that many victims, fearing reprisals, wait until after leaving the armed forces to tell their stories.
- 3,192 Sexual Assaults were reported out of an estimated 19,000 between 1 Oct 2012 to 31 Sept. 2011.
As a result, the Department of Veterans Affairs screens for what it calls military sexual trauma, or MST, a
term the agency uses for sexual harassment and assault. Through May 2007, almost 15 percent of female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have gone to the VA for care have screened positive for MST.