On the occasion of tomorrow’s 114th International Women’s Day, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner visited more than 250 female soldiers and civilian employees of the Austrian Armed Forces on March 6. Armed Forces at the Museum of Military History. The focus was on the topic of “Women in the Armed Forces”. The annual event gives female soldiers and female civil servants the opportunity to network with each other. During her visit, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner emphasized the encouraging increase in the number of female soldiers.
Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner: “Women are now at the top of directorates, departments and also in units of the troops. Overall, around 9.2 percent of managers in the defense department are currently female. We will continue to work on integrating women and increasing the proportion of women in the armed forces. And we have succeeded in doing so, as the proportion of female soldiers has already risen to around five percent since the introduction of voluntary basic military service. This is the highest proportion since 1998.”
Since April 1, 2023, women have had the opportunity to do voluntary basic military service. This allows them to get to know the armed forces system better before deciding to remain in the armed forces. In less than twelve months, 244 women have already volunteered for the armed forces and 136 have enlisted so far. In total, around 29 percent of the staff at the Federal Ministry of Defense are female. This puts the proportion of female staff at around 14 percent. “These are pleasing results, but we still have enough work ahead of us to inspire even more women to join the armed forces,” continued Tanner.
Other ongoing measures to make the “female soldier” profession more attractive to women include Girls’ Day, mentoring for female soldiers and cross-mentoring for civilian employees, the expansion of childcare options and networking initiatives.
At this year’s International Women’s Day, the importance of the topic of women’s advancement was emphasized and the commemoration of this historic day was ensured. The program included presentations on voluntary basic military service for women and on the social situation with a focus on women in the department. Afterwards, the participants had the opportunity to talk to Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner.
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