Women in the military
[2] In 2006, eight countries (China, Eritrea, Israel, Libya, Malaysia, North Korea, Peru, and Taiwan) conscripted women into military service.
Scottish doctor Elsie Ingles coordinated a retreat of approximately 8,000 Serbian troops through Romania and revolutionary Russia, up to Scandinavia, and finally onto transport ships back to England.
In late 1941, Britain began conscripting women, sending most into factories and some into the military, especially the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) attached to the army.
By August 1941, women were operating fire-control instruments; although they were never allowed to pull the trigger, since killing the enemy was considered too masculine.
Red Cross nurses served widely within the military medical services, staffing the hospitals close to the front lines and at risk of attack.
The group members would go to missions run by British organisations MI9 and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) involving parachuting into German-occupied Europe.
[45] In addition to the U.S. military women who served in Vietnam, the exact number of female civilians who willingly gave their services on Vietnamese soil during the conflict is unknown; an estimate by American scholar Marilyn B.
[53] In 2023, the mostly-female Caracal battalion was involved in intense fighting when Hamas militants infiltrated the border area near Gaza in October 2023.
The unit's performance in real-world combat against Hamas is also seen as proof that women can execute infantry missions effectively when given the requisite training.
[56] The proportion of female military personnel varies internationally, with approximately 3% in India, 10% in the UK,[57] 15% in France,[58] 13% in Sweden,[59] 16% in the US,[60] 15.3% in Canada,[61] and 27% in South Africa.
[66] A rise in the call for equal opportunity coupled with the decline of able-bodied men willing to enter military service coaxed countries to reform policies toward female inclusion.
[75] It wasn't difficult for women to conceal their true identities because soldiers showered separately and were fully clothed the majority of the time.
[75] For instance, in 1861, Mary Owens claimed to have enlisted in the Union Army disguised as the "brother" of William Evans, with whom she was in a romantic relationship.
[77] It is difficult for historians to estimate the true number of women who fought in the war because of their disguises and aliases, as well as their desire for discretion.
Women joined the fray of the Civil War for similar reasons as men: the promise of a steady wage, innate sense of patriotism, or the thrill of an adventure.
The course was intended to train female soldiers for tasks such as unexploded ordnance awareness, biometrics, forensics, evidence collection, tactical questioning, vehicle and personnel searches, and homemade explosive devices.
[90] In April 2015, the Marine Corps' Infantry Officer Course, which had been gender-integrated for two and a half years for research purposes, ended without a single female graduate.
This opened up roughly 10% of all military jobs that had previously been closed to women, including positions in infantry, armor, reconnaissance, and some special operations units.
Two women received the Silver Star for their actions in combat: Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester in 2005 and Army Specialist Monica Lin Brown in 2007.
[95] The Army has since updated the exam, replacing leg tucks with a plank and grading based on a matrix that accounts for age and gender.
[96] This policy change allowed a majority of female soldiers to meet standards and set a precedent for breaking uniformity in expectations.
[97] A 2015 Marine Corps study[98][99] found that women in a unit created to assess female combat performance were significantly injured twice as often as men, were less accurate with infantry weapons, and were less skilled at removing wounded troops from the battlefield.
In removing wounded troops from the battlefield, "notable differences in execution times were found between all-male and gender-integrated groups".
[108] 83 percent of women who reported sexual assault stated that their experiences with military legal personnel made them reluctant to seek further help.
[109] Female soldiers have developed several techniques for avoiding sexual assault "including: (1) relying on support networks [buddy systems], (2) capitalizing on their status (associated with rank, age, time spent in the military, or prior deployment experience), and (3) masking femininity through clothing to minimize violence exposure and to keep themselves and others safe during military service".
[120] Updated military training focuses on bystander interventions and the role of consent in sexual activity, emphasizing the responsibility of male soldiers.
[129] As one of the 44 crew members lost at sea, Krawczyk was honored by the country's Jewish community as "La Reina De Los Mares" on International Women's Day in 2018.
[130] On July 4, 2017, after two years of training, four female officers boarded a French SSBN for France's first seventy-day mixed gender patrol.
[132] Women are expected to join submarine crews in the Royal Netherlands Navy in 2019, with the addition of shower doors and changing-room curtains.
The study claims that female cadets "were hyper-vigilant about their status as women, performing tasks traditionally seen as men's work and often felt that they had to constantly prove they were capable.
