Watch this new documentary about homeless women veterans

I’m eager to watch this new documentary about homeless women veterans trying to open the first transitional house for female vets in Connecticut. War Zone/Comfort Zone, created by filmmaker Lizzie Warren with Connecticut Public Television, is airing on PBS stations across the country this weekend, and by tomorrow you’ll be able to watch it online here. Check out the trailer below:

Transcript after the jump.

As women are increasingly joining the ranks of the military–and their numbers are sure to only increase as more positions open up to them–female veterans are becoming the fastest growing homeless population in the US. There are a lot of complex reasons why former servicewomen struggle with homelessness–from job discrimination to lack of family housing options–but one of the main factors is post-traumatic stress disorder due to sexual assault. A recent study found that 53 percent of homeless female veterans had experienced military sexual trauma.

Meanwhile, on that front, the military continues to #fail.

Transcript:

This home will be specifically for 17 female veterans.

Is this an issue of military? Of course not. We all love our military.

This is strictly zoning. You’re taking a one-family house and making it a shelter.

Who else would preserve their land more than someone who is willing to die for it?

War Zone/Comfort Zone, Tuesday, November 8th at 9. 

St. Paul, MN

Maya Dusenbery is executive director in charge of editorial at Feministing. She is the author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick (HarperOne, March 2018). She has been a fellow at Mother Jones magazine and a columnist at Pacific Standard magazine. Her work has appeared in publications like Cosmopolitan.com, TheAtlantic.com, Bitch Magazine, as well as the anthology The Feminist Utopia Project. Before become a full-time journalist, she worked at the National Institute for Reproductive Health. A Minnesota native, she received her B.A. from Carleton College in 2008. After living in Brooklyn, Oakland, and Atlanta, she is currently based in the Twin Cities.

Maya Dusenbery is an executive director of Feministing and author of the forthcoming book Doing Harm on sexism in medicine.

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