Diversity of Women Veterans' Experiences

At Ipsos Public Affairs, we partner with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to understand how Veterans utilize and experience VA healthcare services. Women are projected to be the fastest-growing segment of the Veteran population. In this paper, we explore the diversity of women Veterans’ experiences with their VA healthcare through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and tackle one of the most common myths about VA healthcare—that it is primarily focused on the needs of men Veterans.

While women currently only make up close to 9.4% (approximately 2 million individuals) of the Veteran population, this paper aims to show there are several significant VA programs that are designed to meet the needs of women Veterans in both VHA facilities and the community. These programs offer a wide variety of gender-specific and experience-specific care that is engaging women Veterans.