The suicide rate among female veterans who sought VA care rose 24% from 2001 to 2022.

In Minnesota, Brittany Severs, a former US Army soldier and the first female to integrate into the Green Beret combined leadership training, keeps military challenge coins as mementos of her service. Her transition out of the military, following two deployments to Iraq, was not without struggle. She felt the weight of leaving her unit behind and later received a PTSD diagnosis upon entering the VA healthcare system. The organization, America's Warrior Partnership, provided support and allowed her to contribute to fellow veterans' post-service lives. 

Suicide rates among female veterans have shown significant increases. From 2001 to 2022, there was a 24% rise among those who sought VA care and a 55% increase among those who did not seek care. The rate of suicide among female veterans greatly surpasses that of non-veteran women, with a rate more than 90% higher. This highlights the need for stronger support systems for the female veteran community. 

Kate Migliario, a West Point graduate and veteran herself, now chairs America's Warrior Partnership. Her work focuses on preventing veteran suicides, also conducting a study known as Operation Deep Dive. This study aims to ensure accurate representation of female veterans in medical examinations and records when suicide occurs. By addressing this built-in bias, the study seeks to provide better support and recognition for female veterans.

Severs and Migliario emphasize the importance of time, healing, and support networks for overcoming trauma and advocating for female veterans in need. They work tirelessly to bridge the assistance gap left by the VA and provide necessary resources for those who served.



Women veterans working to address military suicides

In her Minnesota office, Brittany Severs keeps her military service by her side. Sitting in a framed shadow box, a collection of military challenge coins. They're reminders of her decades serving in the US Army as the first female soldier to integrate into the Green Beret combined leadership training and the first female in Army history to complete the Special Forces Ironman race. I've never rocked so hard in my life, but I learned so much about resiliency. In 2010, prior to the first of her two deployments to Iraq, she set a timetable for herself. Four more years of service, and then she would transition out of the military. Severs stuck to that plan, but leaving wasn't easy. It was hard to leave because my guys were going right. It's okay, take your time, take your time. Yeah, no, it was hard knowing that. I felt like I was betraying them because it felt like I was sending them there without my support. Several of the men in her unit would later die by suicide. Severs did not come out of her service unscathed either. Upon entering the VA healthcare system, she was diagnosed with PTSD. She eventually joined the non-profit America's Warrior Partnership to try and help her fellow veterans navigate life after their service. The VA did what they were supposed to do to treat. I went to counseling, I was prescribed medication. And following those steps was fine for the time being. But I think what ultimately helped was just time. Not every female veteran is as fortunate though, and some have paid the ultimate price. In the most recent numbers available that Scripps News obtained from the VA, from 2001 to 2022, suicide rates rose 24% for female veterans who sought VA care. And it rose more than 55% for female veterans who did not seek care. The suicide rate among female veterans is more than 90% higher than it is for US women who are not veterans. Suicide for the veteran community is a real epidemic. But I think specific to the female community, what we're seeing is a louder voice reaching out for help, particularly in the last two decades. Kate Migliario graduated from West Point and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. Her brother-in-law, who also served, died by suicide. She's now chairwoman of America's Warrior Partnership, working to address veteran suicides. Aside from trying to fill in any gaps in assistance that the VA might miss with veterans, the organization is undertaking another related task. To make sure medical examiners across the country properly account for women veterans who die by suicide, but whose service may not be noted in the records. We started a study called Operation Deep Dive. And it's not surprising that female veterans are undercounted compared to their male counterparts because people don't think to ask, did this female who prematurely took their lives, did they serve? There's a built-in bias there. Built-in bias. The study is ongoing, and so is their effort to reach female veterans who need help. But Siever says there is help out there. I think all trauma takes time to heal. And so I think my distance from service and filling my time and my life with new friendships, new activities, family, a husband, children, things like that, and the time since my service has healed those wounds. Wounds that can sometimes be invisible, but still cut deep among those who served.

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