Women veterans
See Me is working on a new project, exploring the impact of mental health stigma on ex-servicewomen – and we’re looking for women veterans across Scotland to get involved.
See Me, Combat Stress and SAMH have been awarded funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Trust on a new partnership project, to understand the nature of mental health stigma and discrimination experienced by women veterans in Scotland, and take forward work on how to tackle it.
The No More Shame project, which is open to both cis and trans women, will work alongside ex-servicewomen to amplify their voices, challenge stereotypes, address stigma and advocate for systemic change.
This work is building on our previous campaign with veterans, The Guard, which aimed to tackle self-stigma and barriers to accessing mental health support through sharing the lived experience of veterans via stories, photos and podcasts.
Creating positive change
The No More Shame project seeks to understand the barriers and enablers to women veterans feeling able to talk about their mental health and access appropriate support that is suited to their needs, as well as exploring the impact of intersections of other oppressive systems of power such as sexism, racism and homophobia.
We want ex-service women to feel heard, understood and supported around their mental health, as well as being an active part in making positive change.
This funding will help us build a multi-layered programme of work, emphasising lived experience leadership, anti-stigma champions leading work in communities, awareness campaigns, social movements and advocacy for systemic change.
We are currently in the early stages of the project – watch this space for updates.
Get involved
The project will be shaped around people’s lived experience of mental health stigma, to help us understand what stigma looks like for ex-servicewomen and how best to address it – and there are lots of opportunities to get involved.
We would love to talk with women veterans who would like to have their voices heard as part of this work. This can be done in various ways – from anonymous sharing, to peer research, to volunteer roles. If you would like an informal chat then please feel free to contact Anna Cook anna.cook@seemescotland.org.
We would also like to hear from any organisations who would like to be a part of this work. You can also contact Anna if interested - anna.cook@seemescotland.org
Discover the Guard
Read about our 2022 campaign, exploring mental health stigma for armed forces veterans.
Find out more