5 Organizations Working in Support of Women Veterans

Women veterans confront many of the same challenges as men during and after their military service. A number of veterans support organizations are focused on the needs of women and the unique issues they face.

Here are five doing this work as women become a larger percentage of both the armed forces and the veterans population.

1. Service Women's Action Network (SWAN)
Founded in 2009, the Service Women's Action Network advocates for women veterans and current service members alike in areas as diverse as health, PTSD, legal services and the planned integration of women into front-line combat roles.

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2. Grace After Fire
Grace After Fire, based in Texas, offers itself as a social network of veterans working on behalf of one another to smooth the return to civilian life especially for women working through service-related difficulties.

3. Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
Disabled American Veterans is a gender-neutral organization, but one that has committed resources to addressing issues raised by the growing contingent of U.S. women veterans. A widely circulated 2014 report by DAV, "Women Veterans: The Long Journey Home," found "gaps for women in health care, transition services, disability compensation, employment and housing," and recommended several steps for addressing them.

4. Center for Women Veterans
A division of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Center for Women Veterans is a government resource for connecting women to VA health care and benefits. The Center also monitors VA programs to ensure that they're addressing the needs of the estimated 2 million U.S. women veterans.

5. Fatigues to Fabulous (F2F)
Fatigues to Fabulous says its core tasks are "to provide valuable job training skills" in résumé-building, interviewing and workplace attire as part of the transition back to civilian life, and also to fund "continued research on health conditions women veterans face returning from service."

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