Role of mentoring for women in the Canadian Armed Forces

LAY SUMMARY In Canada, mentoring has been used in the armed forces to support women’s careers and personal development, but there is little evidence that the unique experiences of being a woman in the military have been considered in mentoring efforts. The current study aims to find reasons why servicewomen are using mentorship in the Canadian Armed Forces and to identify the gender and cultural factors that may play a role in those mentoring experiences. This article presents some of the findings from 28 interviews that explored the experiences of mentorship for women in the military. For women, career development advice includes learning how to manage personal responsibilities along with career objectives. Women are also looking for support to address issues related to gender and military culture, kinship and visibility, and surviving sexual trauma in the workplace. The current study provides a foundation for ongoing research and forms a basis on which future mentorship work can be built.

Effect of 6 Months of Physical Training on the Physical Fitness of Young Brazilian Army Cadets

Following the increase in the employment of women in conflicts around the world, the federal government of Brazil enacted a law which determines the participation of women in the military. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of six months of physical training (PT) on the physical fitness of young Brazilian Army cadets to carry out the physical assessments provided in military training. Sixty-eight members of the (19.4 ± 1.0 years) military from the Brazilian Army (BA), with BMI of (23.61 ± 2.17/21.81 ± 2.26) respectively and divided in two groups (men/women) participated in the study. PT was conducted by Manual EB20-MC10.350. Anthropometric measurements and assessment of body composition by dual X-ray absorptiometry were performed. The Student’s t test, percentage evolution equation, and Levene test were used. Results showeda significant increase in anthropometric variables and cardiorespiratory fitness in both groups. Bone health variables and visceral fat presented a significant increase in the malegroup. In terms of muscle fitness (handgrip and isometric strength of the legs and push-up and pull-up), there was no significant variation between thegroups. Percentage evolution was greater in female group. The conclusion shows PT was able to cause beneficial changes, promoting positive improvement in bone health, especially in women. Also, PT was shown to enhance cardiorespiratory capacity, and muscle fitness of the upper limbs in all participants.

Family planning in the U.S. military: The gendered experiences of servicewomen

LAY SUMMARY Balancing family and work is always challenging for working women; however, military service presents especially nuanced and unique challenges to women serving in the U.S. military. Family planning, and in particular marriage and children, have distinct impacts on servicewomen’s professional careers. Their chosen professions often intersect and detract from their family planning choices. Within a larger study of gendered experiences, women from all four branches of the U.S. military, representing a variety of familial statuses and occupations, noted the complex and challenging intersections of family and work they encountered over the course of their military careers. As in other professions, military women bear disproportionate familial burdens compared with their male counterparts, and challenges pertaining to marriage and children regularly affect their professional careers. However, the military presents heightened professional demands on family planning, including marital status, marital partners’ professions, pregnancy, maternity, and parenthood. These additional challenges women in the military face regarding family planning often run counter to organizational efforts to encourage women’s participation, promotion, and retention in the military.

The gap in contraceptive knowledge and use between the military and non-military populations of Kinshasa, DRC, 2016–2019

Introduction The objective of this study is to assess change over time in the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (MCPR) and related variables among married women of reproductive age (15–49 years) in the military population in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, compared to women in the non-military population, based on cross-sectional surveys in 2016 and 2019. Methods Data among women living in military camps were collected as a special study of contraceptive knowledge, use, and exposure to FP messaging, for comparison to women in the non-military population from the annual PMA2020 survey. Both used a two-stage cluster sampling design to randomly select participants. This analysis is limited to women married or in union. Bivariate and multivariate analysis was used to compare the military and non-military populations. Results The socio-demographic profile of women in the military camps differed between 2016 and 2019, which may reflect the more mobile nature of this population. In both populations, knowledge of modern contraceptive methods increased significantly. Similarly, use of a modern contraceptive method also increased significantly in both, though by 2019 women in the military camps were less likely to use modern contraception (24.9%) than their non-military counterparts (29.7%). Multivariate analysis showed no significant difference in the amount of increase in MCPR for the two populations. Among contraceptive users in both populations, the implant was the leading method. Potential effects of FP programming were evident in the military population: exposure to FP messaging increased (in comparison to a decrease among the non-military population). Moreover, women who had lived in the camps for 4+ years had a higher MCPR than those living in the camps for less than four years. Conclusions This study demonstrates the feasibility and importance of collecting data in military camps for better understanding contraceptive dynamics among this specialized population.

Action at intersections

Military veterans are popularly imagined to be men, but recent decades have seen an increase in the number of women in the military, including women of color and queer-identified people. This diversification of the military is increasingly reflected in veterans’ peace organizations like Veterans For Peace and About Face. This younger, diverse generation of veterans brings their multiple experiences of race, social class, and gender oppression—before, during, and after their military service—to their anti-war activism. Their collective intersectional knowledge in turn shapes their activism, as veterans. The chapter reviews the literature on women and LGBTQ people in the military; intersectionality as an academic field; and intersectional praxis as an emergent connective tissue in the broader field of progressive activism. The chapter poses a question grounded in the tensions and possibilities of the present historical moment: How will veterans’ peace organizations respond to the challenges introduced by a younger and far more diverse cohort of activist veterans?

The Position of Women in the Military: Ethnic Tamil Female Combatants in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

This paper discusses various factors behind the ethnic Tamil women who decided to join the terrorist militia group, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), in the northern and southeastern parts of Sri Lanka. In this discussion it is known that there are three factors that affect the decision of Tamil women ​​to join the LTTE, namely: first, the existence of the Tamil community as an ethnic minority. Second, the occurrence of mass sexual violence and abuse among Tamil women, perpetuated by the Sri Lanka’s majority ethnic group. Finally, the decision of Tamil women to join LTTE is due to the pressure that structurally and culturally appears in communities in conflictual areas. Through these three factors, Tamil women ​​then chose to leave their comfort zone and reconstructed their identity by joining the LTTE terrorist militia group. In this case, the involvement of female LTTE combatants in Sri Lanka is not only an attempt to eradicate negative views regarding femininity through military activities, but also a symbol of successful self-liberalization from the practice of gender oppression in conflict situations

Women in the Military Sphere: Some Issues of Social Adaptationilitary Sphere

Since the 1970s, feminist movements and the recognition of gender equality as one of the basic human rights, as well as a number of other legal, socio-political changes in the armed forces have recorded significant structural changes that have provided the “weaker sex” with wider access to this area. The article deals with issues related to the dynamic processes of social integration of women in the army environment. Based on the analysis of a number of models of their involvement in the armed forces, the main factors influencing the stage-by-stage processes of such involvement in this specific area are presented.

The Impact of Mammography Screening Guideline Changes Among Women Serving in the U.S. Military

Introduction The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) modified their screening guidelines for breast cancer in November 2009. Previous studies evaluated the impact of these guideline changes among privately and Medicare insured populations. Women in the military form a unique population exposed to many social, environmental, and occupational hazards that may increase breast cancer incidence. By evaluating mammography screening rates among women in the military before and after the USPSTF guideline changes, this study evaluated the impact of the USPSTF breast cancer guideline change on screening mammography use within the military population and determined whether current guidelines were followed for this high-risk population with universal health care access. Materials and methods This study evaluated the impact of the 2009 guideline changes among the population of universally insured military servicewomen, comparing the proportion of active duty women aged 40 to 64 receiving mammograms from fiscal years 2006 to 2015 using an interrupted time series analysis. Stratified analyses evaluated differences by age (aged 40–49, 50–64), race, military branch, and rank. This research is considered exempt by the Uniformed Services University Institutional Review Board. Results The proportion of insured military servicewomen receiving mammograms increased from October 2005 through September 2009. A significant decrease occurred in the first quarter of 2010 following the publication of the screening guideline update. From this new baseline, the proportion of women screened increased again through September 2015. Comparative analyses showed more pronounced effects both immediately and over time among the women aged 50 to 64 compared to those aged 40 to 49 years and among older enlisted women compared with their officer counterparts. The patterns were near identical in all subgroups; however, no changes in rate were evident among Air Force and black servicewomen aged 50 to 64 and Army and Navy/Marine Corps servicewomen aged 40 to 49 years. No racial disparities in screening or impact were noted. Conclusions The USPSTF guidelines had differential impacts among some subpopulations. While older women, aged 50 to 64 years, had a greater temporary reduction immediately after the guideline change, younger women aged 40 to 49 years had a longer-term reduction in screening following the guideline changes. No racial disparities in the proportion screened or in the impact of the guideline change were noted in this population with universal health coverage. The lack of Department of Defense standard breast cancer screening guidelines was evident from the different patterns of mammography utilization observed among military branches. To completely understand the impact of the updated screening guidelines, future studies must incorporate research focusing on changes in breast cancer morbidity and mortality as well as updated cost-benefit analyses.