WASHINGTON Ñ A U.S. Air Force study said women who served in the Gulf over the last
decade have reported physical and mental difficulties stemming from a lack
of segregated facilities. The study said the women complained of urinary
tract infections and dehydration because of poor medical treatment and the
absence of womens' toilets.
Many women crew members too embarrassed to use the latrines in front of
their male colleagues ended up with urinary tract infections, the study
said. To avoid using the latrines, the study said, many women limited their
water intake and as a result became dehydrated.
Women aviators and other aircrew members were forced to pull down their
flight suits while using latrines, the study said. This required them to
disrobe in front of their male colleagues, Middle East Newsline reported.
The study was authored by Air Force Reserve Col. Penny Pierce, a flight
nurse who served six months in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf war. Ms.
Pierce studied 521 air force women who served in the Persian Gulf during
U.S. military operations
against Iraq in 1991 and 1998.
The study cited the complaints by women soldiers of inadequate field
latrines, a shortage of physicians knowledgeable about women's health
concerns, concern for their children in the United States and the difficulty
in observing Islamic tenets on women's dress. Ms. Pierce said the problem of
women's dress was most pronounced in Saudi Arabia, which demands that women
remain covered from head to toe.
The study said many women also delayed addressing their health concerns
until they could see a woman physician. The women cited the scarcity of
female physicians in the Gulf.
Ms. Pierce said women also sustained skin infections caused by continual
wearing of full field uniform outside in the desert heat. She said women
soldiers were forced to remain fully-clothed outside in conformance with
Islamic tradition.
"In Saudi, women couldn't take their shirts off, like men, to get cool,"
Ms. Pierce told a conference on military health issues. "We had to keep the
long sleeves down because of the culture."
Military officials said the study would be used in efforts to improve
the health of women soldiers stationed in the Gulf region. Lt. Col. Elspeth
Cameron Ritchie, the program director for women's health issues within the
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, said the
Pentagon is conducting research regarding the provision of adequate latrine
facilities for all deployed troops.
"Women usually will not complain," Ms. Ritchie said. "But they may vote
with their feet and get out."
