Preface Kate Hendricks Thomas and Kyleanne Hunter We are Marines. No longer in uniform, today we are both academic research- ers. We were also both almost statistics—numbers on a page that people use to evoke emotions devoid of context. That is the reason we dedicate our per- sonal and professional lives to advocate for women veterans and to conduct research in the fi eld of women veterans’ wellness. We struggled to leave the active-duty military and become civilian versions of ourselves again. Despite appearing “successful,” or even “normal” on the outside, there was always an almost nagging preoccupation with not belonging. We see ourselves in some of the fi ndings cited throughout this volume. For two women veterans who work with data for a living, the realization of how challenging transition is for servicewomen like us and our peer group is sobering. It is well documented that veterans, especially women veterans, suffer from a lack of belonging and of connection. During active duty, this mani- fests as a question of whether you feel like you can tell someone that you’re experiencing trauma at home or simply need to power through—a question of whether you can tell someone that you’re struggling with self-medicating or actively hide it because you learned your lesson well that for Marines, pain is weakness. As women transition into the civilian world, these questions remain. If you ask us, too many of us feel that care systems (both nonprofi t and government) were often just not built for women, and more of us also report that we leave the military with less of one very important protective factor—social support. Women veterans are 250 percent more likely than civilian women to com- mit suicide, and women who do not use VA services have seen a 98 percent increase in rates. To us, the suicide numbers are more than just statistics. Behind all of these numbers are stories of keeping a strong, silent public face even when we are struggling personally. From an academic standpoint, we recognize that some of the issues that are driving women to suicide are a
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