The Disabled American Veterans national convention included a panel discussion on women veterans’ mental health care in Phoenix on August 5, 2024. The Disabled American Veterans organization is voting on its legislative priorities during its annual convention in Phoenix Tuesday. Improving mental health for women veterans is on the agenda.

The DAV says one in three women veterans has experienced military sexual trauma, or MST, which encompasses sexual harassment and sexual assault.

Naomi Mathis is combat-disabled Air Force veteran and Assistant National Legislative Director for the DAV. She said DAV’s research found the algorithm responsible for flagging high suicide risk doesn’t screen for MST.

“The VA has told us they’re working on an update to that algorithm, but we will continue to highlight this fixable issue until it is actually implemented,” she said.

Earlier this year, the DAV released its first report focused on women veterans’ mental health . It classes suicide prevention as its highest clinical priority. The report found: Combat-disabled Air Force veteran Naomi Mathis (left) talks with a fellow veteran at the Disabled American Veterans convention in Phoenix. The report found: Women veterans are two times as likely to attempt suicide as their male counterparts.

Firearms were used in 51.7% of women veterans’ suicides, nearly three times higher than for nonveteran women.

Rural veterans face a 20% increased risk for suicide and are less likely to receive mental health and gender-specific health care services compared with urban women peers.

Nearly 1 in 5 women veterans using VA primary care reported experiencing intimate partner violence in the past year, an experience strongly associated with suicidal ideation.

Veterans using VA maternity care are more likely than the general population to have one or more mental health diagnoses, including PTSD, which can put them at greater risk for suicidal ideation. Menopause has been shown to raise the risk for depression in U.S. women twofold and corresponds to the highest rates of suicide in women. The proportion of women veterans using VA health care with a service-connected disability increased from 48% in fiscal year (FY) 2000 to 73% in FY 2020. Since 2005, the […]

Disabled American Veterans makes women’s health care a top priority at Phoenix convention