New Report Underscores Unique Camaraderie and Challenges of Women Veterans

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16, 2025 – Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) released the 2025 Women Warriors Report, which explores the lifetime journey of women veterans, from their time in the military to their experiences and challenges as they transition back to civilian life.

The report contains both quantitative data — derived from WWP’s Warrior Survey, Longitudinal, Wave 3, published earlier in the year — and qualitative data from 18 focus groups of women warriors. A key aspect of the report findings is the numerous policy recommendations that Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the broader veteran community can implement to better support women veterans.

Women are the fastest-growing population within the veteran community. VA projects that women will account for 18% of the veteran community by 2040, and WWP currently serves over 37,000 women warriors and their families and caregivers.  

“The report shows what we’ve been hearing from our women warriors for a while – numerous challenges remain after service, including access to care, especially gender-specific care, receiving effective and timely support through the transition process, achieving economic and housing stability, and building a sense of identity and purpose after service,” said WWP Chief Program Officer Jen Silva. “At the same time, it came through loud and clear in our focus groups that many women veterans cherished their time in service, despite challenges, and were able to build confidence and resilience that has served them well in later stages of their lives.”

Lifetime Journey Data

The report is broken down into four main areas, reflecting the lifetime journey of women veterans: Serving with Honor, Navigating Transition, Redefining Purpose, and Enhancing Quality of Life, covering topics such as access to care, usage of VA benefits, barriers to employment, isolation and loneliness, and the importance of mentorship and bonding with other women veterans.

Report data reveals that the average age of woman warriors is 40, and they have deployed three times on average. The most common branch of service was the Army (52%), followed by the Navy (16%) and the Air Force (15%). Almost 4 in 5 (78%) have a VA disability rating of 70% or higher.

The report's data also focused on areas where the experiences of men and women veterans were different. For example, women were more likely to report anxiety, depression, migraines, and military sexual assault, while men reported experiencing more traumatic brain injuries, hearing loss or tinnitus, high blood pressure, and spinal cord injuries.

Policy Recommendations

From the report’s findings, six key areas were identified where policy changes can be implemented to improve the experiences of women warriors: 

1. Ensuring Equitable Transitions and Reintegration.   
2. Building Belonging, Identity, and Public Recognition. 
3. Access to Care Across the Military-Veteran Continuum. 
4. Advancing Preventive and Gender-Specific Specialty Care. 
5. Supporting Comprehensive Health and Wellness for Women Warriors. 
6. Strengthening Economic Security and Housing Stability. 

For these six areas, WWP has developed more than 30 specific policy recommendations, which can be found in the report.

“We want this report to be more than just a snapshot in time of how women warriors are faring,” said Silva. “There are plenty of opportunities for our government, the military, and the veteran community to work together to create new and better policies to support our women veterans throughout their lives. Often, the solutions are very clear – we simply need to have the willpower to implement them. WWP looks forward to working with Congress, the Administration, VA, and others to create the change that women veterans need and deserve after serving our country.”

Key Findings

Ensuring Equitable Transitions and Reintegration

• Women warriors are more likely than their male counterparts to use at least one VA or government benefit (82% vs. 76%), and women warriors were more likely to use the Military Tuition Assistance Program, Federal Pell Grants, and VA’s Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) Program.
• In focus groups, issues discussed included challenges around translating military skills into civilian jobs and the need for transition assistance program content that teaches real-life skills. 

Building Belonging, Identity, and Public Recognition

• 83% of women warriors reported feeling isolated sometimes or often, higher than the 78% reported by male warriors.
• In focus groups, women warriors discussed the importance of bonding with other women veterans, a lack of community engagement, and under-recognition of being a veteran.

Access to Care Across the Military-Veteran Continuum

• When selecting health care providers, women warriors are more likely than their male counterparts to focus on providers demonstrating cultural sensitivity, availability of telehealth, care coordination, and patient advocacy.
• 64% cited wait times for appointments as the top barrier to care, followed by poor experiences with providers (50%) and personal schedule, including family obligations (38%).

Advancing Preventative and Gender-Specific Specialty Care

• 40% of women warriors prefer to receive their specialty care, and 49% would prefer to receive gender-specific and reproductive health services, from a VA medical center.
• 50% of women warriors reported that the VA was “extremely helpful” or “very helpful” in coordinating routine women’s health services.

Supporting Comprehensive Health and Wellness for Women Warriors

• The top five self-reported conditions of women warriors were anxiety (87%), depression (83%), sleep problems (81%), PTSD (75%), and migraines or chronic headaches (65%).
• Over three-quarters (78%) of WWP women warriors reported having less than the recommended seven hours of sleep per night, and 60% indicated poor sleep quality. 

Strengthening Economic Security and Housing Stability

• Four in 10 (41%) women warriors live paycheck-to-paycheck, with the increased cost of goods being the top reported source of financial strain.
• Among women warriors who are currently employed, 57% reported at least one barrier that made it difficult to obtain employment or change jobs; the most common were mental health (30%) and family/child care (23%).

About the Survey

The quantitative data for the 2025 Women Warriors Report came from Wave 3 of the Warrior Survey, Longitudinal, Wave 3 which was administered from May 25 to Aug. 1, 2023.  The qualitative data came from focus groups and interview discussions with women warriors conducted from March to November 2024. Eighteen focus groups and interviews were conducted – 13 virtually, and five in person.

Learn more about the Women Warriors Report.

For further information: Michael Nilsen, Communications Director, Government & Community Relations, mnilsen@woundedwarriorproject.org, 904.578.3437

About Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project is our nation’s leading veteran services organization, focused on the total well-being of post-9/11 wounded, ill, or injured veterans. Our programs, advocacy, and awareness efforts help warriors thrive, provide essential lifelines to families and caregivers, and prevent veteran suicides. Learn more about Wounded Warrior Project.