Gender issue
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have filed a rulemaking request with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs asking the VA to change its motto.
The current motto is “To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan.” An IAVA statement reads, “This motto is gendered and fails to recognize the sacrifice and service of the over two million women veterans and their survivors, relegating them to the fringes of the veteran community. Many of the systemic issues confronting women veterans—inadequate health-care facilities, mental illness, suicide—relate to a VA culture that does not adequately acknowledge their service and sacrifice.”
IAVA has a “She Who Borne the Battle Campaign” to deal with a VA in which women veterans seeking care and benefits “do so in a culture that often does not accept them or fully recognize them as veterans.”