RESEARCH
UNIQUE, PERSON-CENTRED INSIGHT INTO THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF WOMEN VETERANS
Salute Her UK believe that the best people to talk to about service development and improvement are those with 'lived experience. The term 'lived experience' is used by many in a variety of settings from academia and research, to the planning and delivery of health and social care.
In the mental health field consultation with survivors and activists helps us to better understand the systemic, cultural and individual challenges faced by those hidden and/or invisible populations.
Our research has given us a unique, person-centred insight into the lived experience of women veterans, before, during and after service. We will actively and meaningfully involve women with lived experiences in everything we do so that the marginalised are included and the silent are given a voice.
In 2021, there were 16,740 women serving in the UK armed forces. This equates to approximately 11% of the serving population. Yet, UK women veterans remain a hidden, invisible and marginalised population.
Salute Her UK research has shown that many do not identify with the term ‘veteran’ and are often overlooked by the public and media when it comes to celebrating or recognising their service, contribution, or sacrifice.
In partnership with Baseline Research, the newly formed team trained a core group of women veterans in the principles of ethnographic research. Over the course of 12 months, 100 women were interviewed by their peers and all shared their lived experience before, during and after military service. The reports can be downloaded below. The findings were both alarming and shocking. Some 52% of the 100 women interviewed reported they had been sexually assaulted whist serving. This came as a surprise, as we surmised that any identified trauma would be connected to service-related experiences incurred during active service in places like Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Research in the USA also indicated that nearly 12% of women veterans experience PTSD — almost double the rate of their male counterparts. Women also have higher rates of depression and eating disorders. In 2018, the suicide rate for women veterans was almost twice that of women who did not serve (RAND Corporation).
‘Some 52% of the 100 women interviewed reported they had been sexually assaulted whist serving.’
‘Research in the USA also indicated that nearly 12% of women veterans experience PTSD — almost double the rate of their male counterparts.
This ethnographic study (PDFs below) illustrate the lived experience of women veterans. It gives women veterans a voice by which they can share their experiences, whilst generating a meaningful discussion around service improvement. It also recommends the implementation of practical solutions to improve health and social care support after military service, system change within the military and a rigorous review of current practice in response to complaints and investigations.
WOMEN VETERANS IN THE CJS
Labour Friends of the Forces thanks Forward Assist and Salute Her UK for producing the Forgotten Women Veterans report, and Community for funding it. We also thank all the women veterans who gave their time to share their experiences with the research team at Salute Her UK; your contributions will help improve the lives of other women veterans across the UK. Conducting the research and analysis that went into this report has highlighted a shortage of existing UK specific research into the experiences of women veterans, particularly when compared to the research picture in North America. This is a gap we hope future projects will address. Notwithstanding these gaps, this report contains useful and important lessons for, among others, UK and devolved administrations, police forces and the criminal justice system. We hope it is widely read.
– Toby Dickinson, Co-Chair Labour Friends of the Forces
