Introduction
The status of women in the military and their participation in both active and non-active combat situations is a complex discussion in both academic and policy fields. The continued growth of conflicts across the world has reinforced the need to critically analyse the role of women in combat environments. The core focus of this article is to present some of the issues that women face in conflict zones that hinder their ability to serve effectively in the military. The historical presence of women in conflict zones and the contemporary reality that military bodies are still struggling to accommodate more gender inclusive practices and policies is another critical discussion. The varying socio-political and cultural temporal frameworks that result in barriers towards equitable inclusion of women in the military can only be addressed through comprehensive understanding and discourse surrounding the barriers that women face. Despite the growing presence of women in the military, not just in the global north but also the global south, there are several issues pertaining to international law that must be addressed. The two key legal focuses are the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) and the International Committee of The Red Cross (ICRC). The LOAC and the ICRC, albeit seminal pieces of legislation, are outdated and limited in their scope pertaining to contemporary equality between genders in the military. At the same time, there are practical issues such as a lack of uniforms, sexual assault, and harassment. The scope of the article will focus predominantly on Western militaries. Nevertheless, a gendered approach is key to addressing the legal and practical shortcomings towards equitable integration of gender and women perspectives pertaining to conflicts.
Historical under-representation of women in war and conflicts
The historical role of women in war and conflict zones has been, and continues to be, underrepresented. The purpose of this section is to briefly introduce some of the issues that dichotomise the understanding of war and conflict itself. It is an important perspective to understand that the war system itself has actively dichotomised gender roles between feminine and masculine instead of being more intersectional (Ahmed, 2014). Women’s exclusion from historical but also artistic representation sets the problematic basis for their exclusion from armies and institutions that have an important role in altering this trend (Hall, 2019). The exclusion of women from artistic representation originates as early as the Renaissance where female artists such as Caterina Van Hemessen pushed artistic boundaries historically. More contemporarily, Alma Thomas and Carmen Herrera are female artists who are considered to have pushed creative boundaries. Nevertheless, their achievements were overshadowed by their male counterparts who received a disproportionate amount of notoriety. “Many of these female artists are just now gaining their long-deserved recognition and fame for the contributions to the creative world” (Karg, 2020). This lack of artistic representation serves to illustrate the lack of women’s voices in issues that directly face them in the military
The Law of Armed Conflict is a specific branch of International Law relating to state binding state agreements regarding inter-state dealings.
The main aim of the International Committee of The Red Cross has been to assist and ensure the safety of victims of armed conflict; as well as promoting the respect and adherence to international humanitarian law.
Caterina Van Hemessen (1528-after 1565) was a Flemish Renaissance painter; she is considered the earliest female Flemish painter of which there are verifiable extant works. Caterina is most well-known for a series of female portraits completed between the late 1540’s and early 1550’s. https://www.askart.com/artist/Caterina_Catherina_van_Hemessen/11182929/Caterina_Catherina_van_Hemessen.aspx
Alma Woodsey Thomas (1891-1978) was the first fine arts graduate from Howard University in 1924. At the age of 75 her abstract artwork debuted at the Howard University in 1966. Alma became an inspirational figure for African Americans, women, and older artists. Thomas’s abstract style has been compared to Byzantine mosaics. https://nmwa.org/art/artists/alma-woodsey-thomas/
Carmen Herrera (1915-2022) was originated in Cuba and lived most of her life in New York. At the age of 89 Herrera was included in a show presented by geometric painters at the New York City’s latincollector Gallery (now Frederico Seve Gallery). Since that exhibition her works are permanent features at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Hirshorn Museum in Washington D.C., and the Tate Modern in London. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carmen-Herrera
as a result of the military structure being inherently masculine as illustrated in the previous section. This points directly to the socio-cultural framework that hinders incorporation of women and gendered perspectives. A “war system” as described by Goldstein is not focused on the state or number of casualties. The understanding highlights the interrelated dynamics of how a society organises itself for potential and actual wars (Ahmed, 2014). The role of masculinity in shaping perceptions of war and conflicts is articulated by Goldstein who outlines: (a) war as a ‘test of manhood”, (b) masculine war roles balanced by feminine war roles such as wives, mothers, and (c) women’s roles in opposing war which furthers the conception of war as masculine and peace as feminine (Goldstein, 2001, 5-6, as cited by Ahmed, 2014). Therefore, to further conceptualise how women are perceived, one must briefly examine two critical facets pertaining to international law: the LOAC and the ICRC.
The ICRC is a key promoter and guardian of the LOAC as well as actively monitoring compliance and contributing to development; the ICRC has an important role in the sphere of international legal systems (Ní Aoláin et al., 2018, p. 36). However, there are two key shortcomings amongst others regarding the LOAC that hinder the effectuality regarding the necessary attention to gender perspectives. The first relates to the articulation of the LOAC and the nature of the agreement. It is only operational during active periods of hostility (Ní Aoláin et al., 2018, p. 39). The second, which directly relates to an arbitrary boundary, is the fact that the LOAC does not deal with the aftermath of a conflict and therefore, has a different impact on women and men (Gardam and Jarvis, 2001 as cited by Ní Aoláin et al., 2018, p. 39). As a result of the history of the LOAC and the fact that it was written based on male experiences in the military, a critical shift is necessary. The contemporary feminist discourse surrounding the LOAC aims to reinforce the view that women are not weak, helpless, and passive victims but must be regarded as equal participants alongside men in society (Ní Aoláin et al., 2018, p.45). “In a world plagued with emerging conflict situations, it is imperative that we understand the challenges war poses…” (Akanya, 2014). This section has briefly introduced the historical complexity regarding gender, the military and international law. The following section will discuss the contemporary status of women and gender in the military.
Contemporary status of women in the Military
The status of women in the military is still a complex discussion due to the various previous structural issues discussed above, as well as the impact of societal and patriarchal practices that permeate the military globally. However, a key factor that is infrequently discussed is the bias in literature relating to the way in which issues that women face in the military are conceptualised. The biggest producer of articles relating to women and the boundaries faced comes from the United States with distinct topic focuses such as (1) sexual assault and harassment in active-duty military; (2) feminity and egalitarianism; lastly, (3) post-traumatic stress disorder (Carreiras, 2015, as cited by Reis & Menezes, 2020, p. 5). Therefore, a lot of the following information will revolve around the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) members. The 2019 summary of National Reports showed a slight increase in average representation of women engaged in NATO and non-NATO operations. Despite reaching an average of 7%, NATO was unable to attain the United Nations target of 15% women engaging militarily in operations; NATO comprised of 12% women and 88% men (NATO, 2019, p.19). Of the 27 Member Nations, 17 met or exceeded the NATO Member Nation average (12%) namely, Turkey was the lowest with 0.3% and Hungary had the highest parentage of women at 20% (Buchholz, 2022). Interestingly, Greece and Hungary represent the largest percentage increases of women in the military in NATO from 1999 to 2019 with 13,9% and 15,1% respectively (NATO, 2019, p. 31).
Joshua S. Goldstein published a book titled “War and Gender: How Gender Shapes the War System and Vice Versa” in 2001. A review is provided here: https://networks.h-net.org/node/5376/reviews/37016/damico-goldstein-war-and-gender-how-gender-shapes-war-system-and-vice
As of 2019, 41% of NATO Member Nations had policies designed to promote recruitment of women; however, there was an overall decrease in women applicants and recruitment (NATO, 2019, p.7). Controversially, only 26% of Member Nations have policies targeting women retention in the military forces; importantly, 63% of Member Nations have networks that support women (NATO, 2019, p. 70). Relating to the prevention of Sexual Harassment only 26 of 29 Member Nations provided data for the 2019 edition of the NATO report, 65% of Member Nations reported incidents of Sexual Harassment, abuse, or assault (NATO, p. 103). There were a reported 934 incidents where 76% were from women and 24% men; an additional 7,895 incidents were reported where the gender was not disclosed (NATO, 2019, p. 104). 20 nations had policies or strategies aimed at prevention; 23 nations had programmes or training for prevention; 18 nations had appointed personnel overseeing allegations; 23 nations had formal procedures for reporting an incident (NATO, 2019, p. 100). As of 2019, only 16 NATO Member Nations reported on the presence of Gender advisors (GENADs) and 13 Member Nations reported on Gender Focal Points (GFPs). 70% of Member Nations had GENADs and 56% had GFPs; of the 16 NATO Member Nations, 50% of the 16 NATO Member Nations deployed GENADs (NATO, 2019, p. 112). These statistics are only a representation of a specific handful of Western armies. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) is a key instrument in the protection of women in conflict as well as post-conflict situations. General recommendation 30 also reinforced that all 189 state parties had to adhere to their obligation as signatories (Ní Aoláin et al., 2018, p. 172). Security Council Resolution 1325 provides a critical avenue for improvement of the status of women in the Military in general, as well as for the members of NATO.
Practical Barriers: The intersection between Policy, Culture and Practicality
The international law and policy shortcomings pertaining to the inclusion of women and gender perspectives into the military framework have been briefly discussed in the last two sections. This section will aim to reiterate those shortcomings and present some practical issues such as uniforms and bras which represent the slow shift of socio-cultural perceptions of women in the military. The issue of uniform and specifically, underwear and bras represent the intersection between practical, political, and cultural factors that surround the progress of women’s integration into the military. In the United States Members of the Army Uniform Board will select final clothing options to be as supportive to servicewomen and enhance their military readiness in 2022. “It has only been in the last decade that there’s been a significant shift towards function” (Roth, 2022, as cited in Padilla, 2022). The Army Tactical Brasserie (ATB) is part of a larger movement to better understand the needs of military personnel namely, women and what is required to perform at their best level militarily (Roth, 2022). The issues of skin damage or pain in the breast, back or shoulders are the exact issues that service women deal with across the world. However, it is telling that it is predominantly western militaries that have been taking steps towards more inclusive gender policies.
In the article published by Strand (2022) they discuss the criticism of integrational policies in the United States military pertaining to servicewomen attire by Right-Wing commentator Tucker Carlson. Strand has
The international Military Office (IMS) Reports directly to the Director of the International Military Staff and provides information and advice pertaining to gender issues including implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325
A gender focal point is a position that is aimed at support for gender mainstreaming, advocacy, reporting and supporting professional staff as well as reporting on gender issues.
General Recommendation 30 was a landmark recommendation which provided the critical basis for which a bridging between international humanitarian law and human rights law ensured that all signatory states adhered to conflict and post-conflict issues that women faced. https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/publications/2015/8/guidebook-cedawgeneralrecommendation30-womenpeacesecurity
Security Council Resolution 1325 which established the Interagency Taskforce on Women, Peace, and Security report directly to the Security Council and acts as a central documentation and reporting hub for the United Nations. https://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/wps/
previously studied armed forces and therefore, compares the discourse surrounding service women’s attire in Sweden and the United States. A key leading question that shaped the comparison between the Swedish and American military was just how long it has taken for women to be considered in the context of military attire, despite being active in all military roles for over 30 years. A likely answer presented in the article is the notion that women’s lack of material support was not ever articulated as a problem for and by the military institution; it was rather articulated as a problem for, and to be solved by, service women themselves until recently (Stand, 2022, p. 2). This reinforces the continued socio-cultural barriers that women face domestically away from international law. The discourse surrounding the uniforms of service women illustrates the ingrained links between masculinity, war-making, and soldiering; but overlooks how military uniforms necessarily must represent the issues of safety and equality between service members as rights-holders and citizens (Stand, 2022, p. 5). In this regard the influence of international law in shaping domestic policies relating to practical matters such as servicewomen attire illustrate the shortcomings. However, the discrepancies between international law and domestic law towards integration policy’s also present avenues for continued improvement. As is pointed out by feminist commentators regarding the progress of servicewomen attire predominantly in Western military frameworks. Nevertheless, there is still a way to go, and adaption of international law, domestic law and socio-cultural frameworks simultaneously is seminal to progress.
Conclusion
Despite the continued increase of women in the military as well as the incremental improvement regarding implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 and CEDAW General recommendation 30, there are still a host of issues that women face in the military as well as conflict situations. As mentioned, these two key international law instruments provide the basis for future improvement of contemporary equitable representation in the military for women as well as a continuously improving the standard of gender protocols. Critical steps need to be taken to address the legislative shortcomings pertaining to international law frameworks that do not include gendered language which the UNSC Resolution 1325 and CEDAW General recommendation 30 critically do. In a practical sense the growing trend in NATO has been to incorporate women to participate in all facets of military activity. However, as is shown by the continued presence of sexual assault and harassment in active-duty military, feminity and egalitarianism and post-traumatic stress disorder it will require both a socio-cultural and legislative change. It is seminal that both facets are addressed in tandem so that international and domestic barriers can both be highlighted and rectified systematically with women playing a central role is discussions surrounding equitable treatment. This must be combined with an increase in education and usage of gendered language in legal and public spheres which necessarily creates more space for women and other members of the military to have their voices heard.
References
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