International Women’s Day 2024: Inspiring inclusion

On March 8, people around the world mark International Women’s Day in celebration of the achievements of women. The Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families is taking the opportunity to salute all women, but especially the women of our Veteran and Veteran Family community. As part of their military and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) service, they have experienced unique challenges and barriers. We also recognize the equally important contributions of women in Veteran Families, as they support their currently serving or Veteran member. Today, we salute them and renew our pledge to advance research with the goal of better understanding their experiences and improving the services available to women Veterans and Family members.

#InspireInclusion

The International Women’s Day 2024 campaign theme is #InspireInclusion, which aims to create a more inclusive world for women where there is a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment. The battle for inclusion felt by active and Veteran women from the military and RCMP has created challenging careers for some and has often impacted their life after service.  Yet, women members have also shown incredible strength and resilience in the face of these challenges. These efforts have helped to blaze a trail and create a better, more inclusive future for other women following them.

We asked women Veterans to share their experiences of serving in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) or Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and how inclusion played a role in their careers. Read the new Perspectives blog post to discover what they had to say.

Learn about other initiatives focused on women Veterans at Atlas:

The Athena Project: We are proud to have gathered a group of women Veterans of the CAF and RCMP under the umbrella of the Athena Project, an initiative dedicated to research and building connections in support of women Veterans’ well-being. We consult and collaborate with women Veterans to shape the initiative and all projects that will come out of it.

Veteran women: Consider participating in a new Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families study: The first project to come out of the Athena Project is a study examining the association between unmet health and well-being needs and the mental health of women Veterans of the CAF and RCMP. We know that women Veterans of the CAF and RCMP experience mental and physical health conditions differently than men Veterans and women in the general population, including having higher rates of chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders and co-occurring mental health disorders.

To begin to understand the unique health experiences and needs of women Veterans, we want to know how women accessed care during service and how they are accessing care now.  We are also interested in how women Veterans have supported their own well-being and their current mental and physical health. Finally, we want to know if any experiences from service relate to health and well-being as a Veteran.