Mother’s Day, Veterans Highlight Women Veterans

 
Ahead of Mother’s Day, Veterans Highlight Women Veterans
IAVA’s Historic She Who Borne the Battle Campaign Reshapes Perceptions and Challenges Culture, Yet Challenges Remain
 
May 11, 2018 (New York, NY) — Ahead of Mother’s Day this Sunday, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the leading voice for the Post-9/11 generation of veterans, is highlighting the extensive sacrifices of military moms and sharing progress on its historic She Who Borne the Battle women veterans campaign. The campaign, launched in 2017, aims to increase recognition and services for women veterans and emerged following years of IAVA member data showing that women veterans do not feel the public recognizes their services, and do not feel that VA adequately provides services. Since its launch last year, IAVA’s She Who Borne the Battle campaign has changed the face of women veterans, garnered enormous support in the public and on Capitol Hill, and put pressure on VA to confront its exclusionary culture. While enormous progress has been made, women veterans continue to face significant barriers to equality, and IAVA is continuing its fight for equal recognition and services for ALL veterans.
 
IAVA has made significant progress through its advocacy, awareness and support programs. Below is an overview of that progress:
 
The Deborah Sampson Act: Moving the Needle through Legislation
 
When IAVA launched She Who Borne the Battle, we also brought together bi-partisan members of Congress to introduce the Deborah Sampson Act, a comprehensive bill aimed at tackling some of the biggest inequalities women face at VA. The historic bill gained momentum quickly, and now has 65 bipartisan House cosponsors and 26 in the Senate. It has spawned separate stand-alone legislation that closely mirrors Deborah Sampson Act provisions, and the recently-passed omnibus funding bill included many #SheWhoBorneTheBattle-inspired provisions.
 
Women Veterans in the News: Changing the Face of Veterans
 
Aside from making significant gains on Capitol Hill, IAVA’s greatest success has been our ability to literally change the face of women veterans — increasing recognition of women veterans by pushing their stories to the forefront in the media and in IAVA external communications. Since launching the campaign, IAVA’s campaign has produced more than 100 million impressions on traditional and social media. By increasing awareness for women veterans, IAVA’s campaign is challenging stereotypes and perceptions of what a veteran looks like, and giving women veterans a chance to speak for themselves.
 
Delivering Innovative Case Management: a Safety Net to Thousands
 
As #SheWhoBorneTheBattle continues to drive long-term, transformative change in the media, online and in Washington, IAVA’s dynamic team of RRRP social workers continues to be there for thousands of women veterans in need. Survivors of sexual assault, vets facing mental health injuries, moms in need of childcare support, families facing foreclosure and much more – they come to IAVA every day for high-quality, one-on-one case management support. About 21% of our clients served are women, and the average client satisfaction rating for our social work team continues to soar at 4.6 out of 5. As the need continues to rise, and now as the VA continues to experience huge struggles, IAVA will be there to fill the gaps. If you know someone who needs help, send them our way. 
 
We’ve got their back.
 
“The She Who Borne the Battle campaign is changing history. But we still have much work to do. That’s why women veterans recognition stands at the top of IAVA’s Big 6 priorities. And it’s why we’re continuing to push the bipartisan Deborah Sampson Act and complementary legislation on Capitol Hill,” said Paul Rieckhoff, Founder and CEO of IAVA.
 
“Just last week, the Department of Defense released the 2017 sexual assault numbers, and the results were sobering: across every branch, the number of reports of sexual assault increased overall by ten percent. Yet, the number of convictions fell. There is a cultural problem in our military and VA, and IAVA is tackling that head one. The work has never been more important. And as we all pause this weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day, we encourage all Americans to remember and salute all the military moms-and especially the moms deployed this Mother’s Day around the world in defense our nation,” continued Rieckhoff.
Learn more about IAVA’s campaign and its advocacy priorities in our 2018 Policy Agenda and at SheWhoBornetheBattle.org.
IAVA is the leading voice of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in Washington D.C. and communities nationwide. Led by veterans, our non-partisan advocacy work ensures that Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families are supported, protected and never forgotten. Since 2004, IAVA has been a juggernaut in Washington D.C., creating and driving the national conversation on issues ranging from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) to women veteran issues to veteran unemployment. IAVA’s dedicated staff in Washington, D.C. leads this work, advocating on behalf of our members daily. We also train our member veterans to be powerful advocates for their local community. 

IAVA is focused on results and has delivered historic impacts. Every year since 2007, in an increasingly gridlocked political environment and with an extremely limited operating budget, IAVA has passed at least one major piece of groundbreaking legislation for our community ranging from the Post-9/11 GI Bill (2008), to the VOW to Hire Heroes Act (2011), to The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act (2015). See IAVA’s Advocacy Program Digital Hub for the full list of victories, our extensive policy recommendations and to learn more about how you can help: http://iava.org/advocacy