Back
About RSIS
Introduction
Building the Foundations
Welcome Message
Board of Governors
Staff Profiles
Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
Dean’s Office
Management
Distinguished Fellows
Faculty and Research
Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
Visiting Fellows
Adjunct Fellows
Administrative Staff
Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
RSIS Endowment Fund
Endowed Professorships
Career Opportunities
Getting to RSIS
Research
Research Centres
Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
Centre of Excellence for National Security
Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
Research Programmes
National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)
Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
Other Research
Future Issues and Technology Cluster
Research@RSIS
Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
Graduate Education
Graduate Programmes Office
Exchange Partners and Programmes
How to Apply
Financial Assistance
Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
RSIS Alumni
Outreach
Global Networks
About Global Networks
RSIS Alumni
Executive Education
About Executive Education
SRP Executive Programme
Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
International Programmes
About International Programmes
Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)
International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
Publications
RSIS Publications
Annual Reviews
Books
Bulletins and Newsletters
RSIS Commentary Series
Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
Commemorative / Event Reports
Future Issues
IDSS Papers
Interreligious Relations
Monographs
NTS Insight
Policy Reports
Working Papers
External Publications
Authored Books
Journal Articles
Edited Books
Chapters in Edited Books
Policy Reports
Working Papers
Op-Eds
Glossary of Abbreviations
Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
RSIS Publications for the Year
External Publications for the Year
Media
Cohesive Societies
Sustainable Security
Other Resource Pages
News Releases
Speeches
Video/Audio Channel
External Podcasts
Events
Contact Us
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University
  • About RSIS
      IntroductionBuilding the FoundationsWelcome MessageBoard of GovernorsHonours and Awards for RSIS Staff and StudentsRSIS Endowment FundEndowed ProfessorshipsCareer OpportunitiesGetting to RSIS
      Staff ProfilesExecutive Deputy Chairman’s OfficeDean’s OfficeManagementDistinguished FellowsFaculty and ResearchAssociate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research AnalystsVisiting FellowsAdjunct FellowsAdministrative Staff
  • Research
      Research CentresCentre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)Centre of Excellence for National SecurityInstitute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      Research ProgrammesNational Security Studies Programme (NSSP)Social Cohesion Research Programme (SCRP)Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      Other ResearchFuture Issues and Technology ClusterResearch@RSISScience and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      Graduate Programmes OfficeExchange Partners and ProgrammesHow to ApplyFinancial AssistanceMeet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other eventsRSIS Alumni
  • Outreach
      Global NetworksAbout Global NetworksRSIS Alumni
      Executive EducationAbout Executive EducationSRP Executive ProgrammeTerrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
      International ProgrammesAbout International ProgrammesAsia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS)International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
  • Publications
      RSIS PublicationsAnnual ReviewsBooksBulletins and NewslettersRSIS Commentary SeriesCounter Terrorist Trends and AnalysesCommemorative / Event ReportsFuture IssuesIDSS PapersInterreligious RelationsMonographsNTS InsightPolicy ReportsWorking Papers
      External PublicationsAuthored BooksJournal ArticlesEdited BooksChapters in Edited BooksPolicy ReportsWorking PapersOp-Eds
      Glossary of AbbreviationsPolicy-relevant Articles Given RSIS AwardRSIS Publications for the YearExternal Publications for the Year
  • Media
      Cohesive SocietiesSustainable SecurityOther Resource PagesNews ReleasesSpeechesVideo/Audio ChannelExternal Podcasts
  • Events
  • Contact Us
    • Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
      rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
      rsis.sg
      rsissg
      RSIS
      RSS
      Subscribe to RSIS Publications
      Subscribe to RSIS Events

      Getting to RSIS

      Nanyang Technological University
      Block S4, Level B3,
      50 Nanyang Avenue,
      Singapore 639798

      Click here for direction to RSIS

      Get in Touch

    Connect
    Search
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • CO11140 | Women at War: Possible Lessons for Small States
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • RSIS Commentary Series
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • Future Issues
    • IDSS Papers
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers

    CO11140 | Women at War: Possible Lessons for Small States
    Fitriani, Ron Matthews

    05 October 2011

    download pdf

    Synopsis

    Women in the military, it seems, are on the march. A trend is emerging where female military members are assuming roles closer to the front-line. It is a growing phenomenon with particular relevance to small states with limited human resources. 

    Commentary

    ‘WOMEN WARRIORS’ is an evocative term. Yet, increasingly, countries are fostering the empowerment of women in the military, recognising the important role that women can play in national defence. However, countries that allow women to assume combat roles amount to just five percent of the world’s militaries, so clearly gender equality has still a long way to go.

    The stereotyped role of military women remains one focused on support duties: boys can dream of becoming a commando, but girls are confined to nursing or administration, not as front-line infantry. This ‘sticky floor and glass ceiling’ characteristic of the military gender divide has proven incredibly difficult to overcome, but breakthroughs are now emerging.

    Breakthroughs on the Front-Line

    Women are operating in the conflict zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the ‘front-line’ is fuzzy and difficult to define. France and Germany, for instance, are two of the advanced military powers that allow women to assume combat roles. Yet, while both countries have female military forces in Afghanistan (165 German in2010; 34 French, in 2010), reports appear to indicate they are mostly accorded administrative, logistic and paramedic posts.

    Confusingly, while the United States does not allow full military gender equality – the Pentagon barring women from role where the primary mission is direct ground combat – women are allowed to serve in units that ‘might’ engage in combat-related action. Women account for just over 14 percent (203,000 out of 1.4 million) of US active-duty service personnel, around 18 percent of the National Guard and Reserve Forces, and some 10 percent of the forces in Iraq and Afghanistan (approximately 25,000 military women). As of March 2011, there have been 3,708 US military fatalities from these two conflicts. Women, who make up around 8.4 percent of US forces, accounted for 2.4 percent of the fatalities, some 113 of the total.

    The UK also bars female ground close-combat roles, but as with their American counterparts, this does not spare them in conflict, with British female combat fatalities in both Iraq and Afghanistan numbering eight (July, 2011). In other significant policy developments, British military women are breaking the mould. In August this year, Britain’s Royal Navy appointed a woman to command a front-line warship, the first time in the 500-year history of the Senior Service. The Lieutenant Commander will take control of HMS Portland, a Type 23 Frigate, in April 2012, operating missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes.

    Gender: No Barrier for Small States?

    As small states tend to suffer more from human resource constraints compared to their big country counterparts, three factors are of particular importance in building a defence posture: firstly, technology multipliers are sought to compensate for limitations in the numbers of military personnel; secondly, reservist numbers rise compared to regulars in the armed forces; and, thirdly, gender in combat is less likely the preserve of a traditional male-dominated mind-set.

    Thus, recent events have led to a questioning of the barriers to deployment of military women in combat roles. Perhaps the most ambitious narrowing of the military gender gap is Australia’s recent opening of front-line combat roles to women. The country’s first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has called for physical and intellectual capacity to be the qualifying factors for military roles, rather than gender. This ADF policy demarche means that women can become snipers, commandos and even commanders-in-chief.

    Already this year, Canberra allowed women sailors to board with men in submarines, replacing an earlier ruling that women submariners sleep in female-only six berth cabins. Women can also pilot attack helicopters and fighter jets. However, women have been barred from army ‘close’ combat roles found in the infantry and special forces. Though Australia is a continental state it has a relatively small population of 22 million and a medium defence status. This relatively small human resource capacity is possibly why 10,000 of the ADF’s 81,000 full- and part-time military personnel are women, and over 97 percent of ADF jobs are open to women.

    Is Australia’s major change in military gender policy an isolated event, or part of a global trend towards military emancipation of women? It is possibly too early to make a call, but a wind of change is emerging, and sometimes from surprising quarters. Afghanistan, a deeply Islamic country, announced in early July that four Afghan women would commence hands-on military helicopter pilot training in 2012. This is a dramatic gender breakthrough for the Afghan air force that is aiming to become ‘self-operational’ by 2016.

    An array of small states such as Canada, Denmark, Finland, Israel, New Zealand, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland, allow women to assume combat roles. Scandinavia, in particular, is a bulwark of military gender equality. Danish women have served in combat roles since 1988, Swedish women since 1989, and Norwegian military women also enjoy equal occupational rights.

    Perhaps the benchmark for deployment of military women to front-line duties is Israel. Women comprise around 34 percent of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) personnel, assuming combat roles in all three land, air and sea branches of the armed forces. On average, about three percent of all IDF officers are women, and, annually, around 1,500 women are drafted into the Israeli military.

    Finally, in Singapore, women were allowed to join the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) since 1969 in non- combat capacities, but it was 25 years later, in 1994, that women began assuming combat roles. After a hesitant start, women have increasingly been given the opportunity to prove themselves in command positions. Women SAF officers now command artillery battalions, naval mine countermeasure vessels and airforce squadrons. They are Regimental Sergeant Majors and mortar platoon leaders in infantry units. Significantly, they have been deployed on operational duties as part of a 13-strong military medical team sent to Afghanistan in 2009. Currently there are 1,700 female SAF personnel, accounting for approximately five percent of the regular forces.

    Policy Implications

    Women in combat is a difficult and controversial issue. It is widely known that women are often the victims of conflict, but there is obvious incongruity between women and what might be termed the ‘warrior class’. Clearly, there are concerns about women’s physical capabilities, operational effectiveness, and societal reactions if military women are captured, killed or maimed. In parallel with the broader social movement towards gender equality, women are slowly winning the right to fight for their country. But only time will tell whether society has the stomach for the consequences.

    About the Authors

    Fitriani is an RSIS researcher in Gender Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University and Ron Matthews is Professor and Chair in Defence Economics at RSIS. 

    Categories: RSIS Commentary Series

    Synopsis

    Women in the military, it seems, are on the march. A trend is emerging where female military members are assuming roles closer to the front-line. It is a growing phenomenon with particular relevance to small states with limited human resources. 

    Commentary

    ‘WOMEN WARRIORS’ is an evocative term. Yet, increasingly, countries are fostering the empowerment of women in the military, recognising the important role that women can play in national defence. However, countries that allow women to assume combat roles amount to just five percent of the world’s militaries, so clearly gender equality has still a long way to go.

    The stereotyped role of military women remains one focused on support duties: boys can dream of becoming a commando, but girls are confined to nursing or administration, not as front-line infantry. This ‘sticky floor and glass ceiling’ characteristic of the military gender divide has proven incredibly difficult to overcome, but breakthroughs are now emerging.

    Breakthroughs on the Front-Line

    Women are operating in the conflict zones of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the ‘front-line’ is fuzzy and difficult to define. France and Germany, for instance, are two of the advanced military powers that allow women to assume combat roles. Yet, while both countries have female military forces in Afghanistan (165 German in2010; 34 French, in 2010), reports appear to indicate they are mostly accorded administrative, logistic and paramedic posts.

    Confusingly, while the United States does not allow full military gender equality – the Pentagon barring women from role where the primary mission is direct ground combat – women are allowed to serve in units that ‘might’ engage in combat-related action. Women account for just over 14 percent (203,000 out of 1.4 million) of US active-duty service personnel, around 18 percent of the National Guard and Reserve Forces, and some 10 percent of the forces in Iraq and Afghanistan (approximately 25,000 military women). As of March 2011, there have been 3,708 US military fatalities from these two conflicts. Women, who make up around 8.4 percent of US forces, accounted for 2.4 percent of the fatalities, some 113 of the total.

    The UK also bars female ground close-combat roles, but as with their American counterparts, this does not spare them in conflict, with British female combat fatalities in both Iraq and Afghanistan numbering eight (July, 2011). In other significant policy developments, British military women are breaking the mould. In August this year, Britain’s Royal Navy appointed a woman to command a front-line warship, the first time in the 500-year history of the Senior Service. The Lieutenant Commander will take control of HMS Portland, a Type 23 Frigate, in April 2012, operating missiles and anti-submarine torpedoes.

    Gender: No Barrier for Small States?

    As small states tend to suffer more from human resource constraints compared to their big country counterparts, three factors are of particular importance in building a defence posture: firstly, technology multipliers are sought to compensate for limitations in the numbers of military personnel; secondly, reservist numbers rise compared to regulars in the armed forces; and, thirdly, gender in combat is less likely the preserve of a traditional male-dominated mind-set.

    Thus, recent events have led to a questioning of the barriers to deployment of military women in combat roles. Perhaps the most ambitious narrowing of the military gender gap is Australia’s recent opening of front-line combat roles to women. The country’s first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, has called for physical and intellectual capacity to be the qualifying factors for military roles, rather than gender. This ADF policy demarche means that women can become snipers, commandos and even commanders-in-chief.

    Already this year, Canberra allowed women sailors to board with men in submarines, replacing an earlier ruling that women submariners sleep in female-only six berth cabins. Women can also pilot attack helicopters and fighter jets. However, women have been barred from army ‘close’ combat roles found in the infantry and special forces. Though Australia is a continental state it has a relatively small population of 22 million and a medium defence status. This relatively small human resource capacity is possibly why 10,000 of the ADF’s 81,000 full- and part-time military personnel are women, and over 97 percent of ADF jobs are open to women.

    Is Australia’s major change in military gender policy an isolated event, or part of a global trend towards military emancipation of women? It is possibly too early to make a call, but a wind of change is emerging, and sometimes from surprising quarters. Afghanistan, a deeply Islamic country, announced in early July that four Afghan women would commence hands-on military helicopter pilot training in 2012. This is a dramatic gender breakthrough for the Afghan air force that is aiming to become ‘self-operational’ by 2016.

    An array of small states such as Canada, Denmark, Finland, Israel, New Zealand, Serbia, Sweden and Switzerland, allow women to assume combat roles. Scandinavia, in particular, is a bulwark of military gender equality. Danish women have served in combat roles since 1988, Swedish women since 1989, and Norwegian military women also enjoy equal occupational rights.

    Perhaps the benchmark for deployment of military women to front-line duties is Israel. Women comprise around 34 percent of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) personnel, assuming combat roles in all three land, air and sea branches of the armed forces. On average, about three percent of all IDF officers are women, and, annually, around 1,500 women are drafted into the Israeli military.

    Finally, in Singapore, women were allowed to join the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) since 1969 in non- combat capacities, but it was 25 years later, in 1994, that women began assuming combat roles. After a hesitant start, women have increasingly been given the opportunity to prove themselves in command positions. Women SAF officers now command artillery battalions, naval mine countermeasure vessels and airforce squadrons. They are Regimental Sergeant Majors and mortar platoon leaders in infantry units. Significantly, they have been deployed on operational duties as part of a 13-strong military medical team sent to Afghanistan in 2009. Currently there are 1,700 female SAF personnel, accounting for approximately five percent of the regular forces.

    Policy Implications

    Women in combat is a difficult and controversial issue. It is widely known that women are often the victims of conflict, but there is obvious incongruity between women and what might be termed the ‘warrior class’. Clearly, there are concerns about women’s physical capabilities, operational effectiveness, and societal reactions if military women are captured, killed or maimed. In parallel with the broader social movement towards gender equality, women are slowly winning the right to fight for their country. But only time will tell whether society has the stomach for the consequences.

    About the Authors

    Fitriani is an RSIS researcher in Gender Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University and Ron Matthews is Professor and Chair in Defence Economics at RSIS. 

    Categories: RSIS Commentary Series

    Popular Links

    About RSISResearch ProgrammesGraduate EducationPublicationsEventsAdmissionsCareersVideo/Audio ChannelRSIS Intranet

    Connect with Us

    rsis.ntu
    rsis_ntu
    rsisntu
    rsisvideocast
    school/rsis-ntu
    rsis.sg
    rsissg
    RSIS
    RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    Getting to RSIS

    Nanyang Technological University
    Block S4, Level B3,
    50 Nanyang Avenue,
    Singapore 639798

    Click here for direction to RSIS

    Get in Touch

      Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
      Privacy Statement / Terms of Use
      Help us improve

        Rate your experience with this website
        123456
        Not satisfiedVery satisfied
        What did you like?
        0/255 characters
        What can be improved?
        0/255 characters
        Your email
        Please enter a valid email.
        Thank you for your feedback.
        This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
        OK
        Latest Book
        more info