Centre for Military Women’s Research
In June 2021 Anglia Ruskin University’s Veterans and Families Institute for Military Social Research (VFI) published the nationally recognised ‘We Also Served’ Report, bringing together everything that was known in the UK about the health and well-being of women veterans. This report identified numerous gaps in our understanding of women’s experiences in the military community and the impact of these experiences on their civilian lives.
Subsequently, the Centre for Military Women’s Research (CMWR)’s was launched by the VFI, with a core mission to inform and improve the wellbeing of women in the military and veteran community through world-leading collaborative research and evaluation. By embedding principles of co-production with members of the military community, and collaboration with partners and stakeholders (academic, charity, third sector, policymakers) into all research projects, the centre undertakes high quality research to deepen understanding and improve provision for women in the military and veteran community.
The CMWR is led by Dr Lauren Godier-McBard and Professor Matt Fossey. You can meet the full team here. The team are conducting a variety of research projects, with funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), the Office for Veterans Affairs (OVA), and third sector organisations. Our two key research streams exploring the experiences of female veterans in accessing support services, and women’s experiences of gender-discrimination and sexual violence during military service. You can find more information about our research projects here.
The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), #Inspire Inclusion, calls on us to “break down barriers, challenge stereotypes, and create environments where all women are valued and respected”. In recognition of this theme, the CMWR recently published a blog that puts a spotlight on our recent research project ‘I don’t feel like that’s for me’: Overcoming barriers to mental healthcare for women veterans’. The project explored the mental healthcare support needs and experience of women veterans in England, and developed guidance for professionals supporting women veterans’ mental health. If you are interested in the findings you can read our blog, or have a look at the our project page for the report, infographics, and guidance for mental healthcare professionals working with female veterans.
We are always interested in hearing from other researchers in this area, so please get in touch if you would like to discuss a project idea or collaboration. We are also looking for guest bloggers, so if you have a project you would like featured on our website, to disseminate findings or support recruitment, we are happy to help! You can contact us at female.veterans@aru.ac.uk.