Disempowering experiences of military service and transition for women veterans exist within an established, dominant, masculinised culture, in which their presence is highly visible, challenged, and often subject to institutional prejudice. Sexual abuse of women in the military, in particular, is a persistent finding in contemporary international research and national inquiries into military culture in countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), the United States (US), and Canada. This study sought to understand military service, transition to civilian life, and post-military experiences of Australian women veterans, specifically their experiences of discrimination, military sexual harassment and assault, and consequent military sexual trauma (MST). In-depth qualitative interviews were undertaken with 22 Australian women veterans that examined how women veterans manage their identity as women in the military. Issues included gender-based challenges in conforming to a masculinised culture, experiences of misogyny, sexual harassment and assault, systemic failures to recognize women’s specific health needs, and experiences of separation from the military and transition, including help-seeking and engagement with services to address their experiences of MST. Women veterans’ adverse experiences largely stemmed from an entrenched masculinised military culture, in which military sexual assault was enabled, ignored, and condoned. Military and veteran support services have been slow to recognize, acknowledge, and address this significant issue.

LAY SUMMARY Families offer vital mental health and well-being support to Veterans and public safety personnel. This study offers a model of how families can experience moral distress from service cultures that exclude them, leaving families stuck, exacerbating a sense of moral distress resulting from perceived organizational betrayal felt in the context of families’ help-seeking experiences. The model was informed by in-depth interviews conducted in Australia with 25 family members with experience seeking help and providing support to a family member who is a Veteran or public safety personnel. The interviews provided a detailed description of how embedded and aligned families were to a member’s service role, and their profound sense of betrayal and distress when attempts to support family members’ mental health were thwarted. Families may experience moral distress from identifying the problem and potential support solutions, but having nowhere to go to realize those supports for their family member. The implications for Veteran and public safety organizations as well as health professionals to promote more meaningful involvement of families is discussed.

Women’s experiences of military service and transition occur within a highly dominant masculinized culture. The vast majority of research on military veterans reflects men’s experiences and needs. Women veterans’ experiences, and therefore their transition support needs, are largely invisible. This study sought to understand the role and impact of gender in the context of the dominant masculinized culture on women veterans’ experiences of military service and transition to civilian life. In-depth qualitative interviews with 22 Australian women veterans elicited four themes: (1) Fitting in a managing identity with the military; (2) Gender-based challenges in conforming to a masculinized culture—proving worthiness, assimilation, and survival strategies within that culture; (3) Women are valued less than men—consequences for women veterans, including misogyny, sexual harassment and assault, and system failures to recognize women’s specific health needs and role as mothers; and (4) Separation and transition: being invisible as a woman veteran in the civilian world. Gendered military experiences can have long-term negative impacts on women veterans’ mental and physical health, relationships, and identity due to a pervasive masculinized culture in which they remain largely invisible. This can create significant gender-based barriers to services and support for women veterans during their service, and it can also impede their transition support needs.

Background: The military is a male-dominated environment and culture in which women veterans can experience significant institutional prejudice. Transition can be confusing and isolating for women veterans. Group programs are an important source of transition support. However, we know little about the specific group program needs of women veterans. Objectives: To examine mental health and well-being support group programs delivered to women veterans, to understand what they value and find most helpful. Eligibility Criteria: Women military veterans (all types); empirical studies using any design; published between 1990 and 2022; group programs focused on transition issues (such as housing, employment, education, physical health, mental health). Sources of Evidence: Peer-reviewed journals and theses. Charting Methods: Six databases searched: Medline (via Ovid SP), PsycINFO (via Ovid SP), EmCare (via Ovid SP), CINAHL, Scopus, and ProQuest. Results: There was significant heterogeneity across 35 included studies in type of groups, program content and structure, length of sessions, measurement of impact, follow-up, and so forth. Most programs were delivered face to face. Physical health and preventative healthcare were important topics for women veterans, particularly reproductive health, mental health, and chronic pain. Groups that included physical activity, creative arts, and alternative therapies were beneficial to women’s physical and mental health. Strengths-based women-only groups, facilitated by women, that created safe spaces for women veterans to share their experiences, enhanced self-expression, agency, and self-empowerment. This was particularly important for women who had experience military sexual trauma. Conclusion: This review found a small but diverse range of group programs available for women veterans. Many program evaluations were of moderate or low quality and lacked sufficient information to determine whether benefits were sustained over time. No studies involved Australian women veterans. Despite these concerns, this review highlighted several useful lessons that could help inform improved design, delivery, and evaluation of group programs for women veterans.

BACKGROUND:Families play a critical role in supporting currently serving and transitioned veterans' wellbeing and help-seeking for mental health concerns; however, little is known about families' experiences. AIMS:This study used Australian national survey linked-data (n = 1217) from families (Family Wellbeing Study-FWS) and veterans (Mental Health Wellbeing Transition Study-MHWTS) to understand veteran-family help-seeking relationships. METHODS:Veterans' and family members' responses to mental health and help-seeking questions in FWS and MHWTS datasets from perspective of family members were cross-tabulated. Help-seeking support provided by family members was compared by veterans' probable disorder. RESULTS:Results highlighted high levels of involvement and continuous assistance provided by families. Two in three family members thought the veteran had probable mental health concerns although they have never been diagnosed or treated. Clear disparities between family and veteran perspectives regarding mental health concerns indicates the extent of non-treatment seeking in this population, missed opportunities for early intervention, and need for greater support to families to promote help-seeking. CONCLUSIONS:Encouraging help-seeking is complex for veteran families particularly where veterans' reluctance to seek help may lead to family relationship strain and conflict. Families need early information, support, and recognition by service agencies of the role of the family in encouraging help-seeking.

The objective of this phenomenological study was to describe families' experiences of supporting veterans and emergency service first responders (ESFRs) (known also as public safety personnel) to seek help for a mental health problem. In-depth semi-structured open-ended interviews were undertaken with 25 family members of Australian veterans and ESFRs. Fourteen participants were family members of police officers. Data were analysed thematically. Participants described a long and difficult journey of supporting the person's help-seeking across six themes. Traumatic exposures, bullying in the workplace and lack of organisational support experienced by veterans/ESFRs caused significant family distress. Families played a vital role in help-seeking but were largely ignored by veteran/ESFR organisations. The research provides a rich understanding of distress and moral injury that is experienced not only by the service members but is transferred vicariously to their family within the mental health help-seeking journey. Veteran and ESFR organisations and mental health services need to shift from a predominant view of distress as located within an individual (intrapsychic) towards a life-course view of distress as impacting families and which is more relational, systemic, cultural and contextual.