Throughout the last decades, the armies of the European countries have evolved in a non-concerted but convergent way, developing common characteristics among which the growing integration of women, both in the troop class and in the officer ranks, stands out. This work makes a comparative exercise of the different national cases, establishing as basic elements of analysis the antecedents of the presence of women in the Army, the normative evolution that has protected and governed their incorporation to the ranks, their specific quantitative and qualitative dimensions in the armies, the diverse modalities of access to the academies, the possible limitations in the professional career, and the level of evolution of certain social policies that favor the professional development and the family norms.
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The article reviews the commitments undertaken by NATO, from an institutional and operational point of view, to ensure awareness and dissemination of its mandates, especially in the field of crisis management. Secondly, it examines the EU's actions in promoting and defending the rights of women and girls living in conflict situations in all areas of its policies, including the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). Finally, the article considers the progressive extension of the gender perspective to the three dimensions of the OSCE: the politico-military, the economic-environmental and the human dimension. The essay concludes by offering a balance of the achievements of these institutions in recent years, as well as the pending challenges to continue the correct implementation of Resolution 1325 in all peacekeeping and peacebuilding activities.
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The role of women in combat has been a controversial issue in the U.S. armed forces for decades. Yet, it has been only 30 years since the first women graduated from the US Military Academy, and only since 9/11 have large numbers of them served in combat zones alongside their male counterparts. This article examines the all-too-brief life of one of them, 2LT Emily Perez, who was the first female graduate of West Point to be killed in the line of fire in Iraq and the first member of the "Class of 9/11" to die in combat. A statistical comparison of female representation at the three major U.S. service academies is included, along with a discussion of the emergence of minorities. An African-American with paternal roots in Puerto Rico, this soldier epitomized all that is right about women serving in combat, willing to sacrifice their lives for the interests of their country. 2LT Perez's legacy lives on today among her family, friends, classmates, fellow soldiers, and the unique charitable causes promoting the values she held dear. The following is a tribute to "Emily's Way."
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The objective of this research is to answer the question: How much progress have South American countries made in the implementation of equal opportunity policies within the Armed Forces? To this end, the study was approached from the perspective of gender equity, reviewing the state of the question through the increase in the incorporation of women into military institutions in the region. However, a historical-quantitative analysis is insufficient for this approach. For this purpose, it was complemented with a qualitative analysis that allows us to analyze specific public policies applied in this field to generate equal opportunities and to visualize the situation of women within military institutions in South America. Finally, it is necessary to clarify that the field of study of the South American countries chosen excludes Suriname, Guyana and French Guyana because it is understood that their cultural and historical identification with the region has been scarce or even nonexistent if we approach it from the specific field of defense.
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This paper analyzes the international and national regulations concerning the evolution in the world and in the Oriental Republic of Uruguay of gender equity, the elimination of discrimination against women, as well as the promotion and protection of the rights that the female gender has been forging, especially in the fields of security and defense. A brief review is made of women's participation in these areas, past and present, and of the process of inclusion in the Uruguayan Armed and Police Forces, concluding with some suggestions of what remains to be done to continue with the work of achieving full equality of roles and functions in society between men and women.
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This presentation by the Minister of Defense of the Republic of El Salvador was made on July 7, 2010 at the 6th Sub-Regional Conference for Mesoamerica, held July 20-23 in San Salvador and organized by the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies (CHDS).
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