There are currently 670 women serving in the armed forces. In order to further increase the proportion of women, Defense Minister Klaudia Tanner is focusing on seven measures to support this.
Minister Tanner has now presented these in a current report: “Military services provided by women in 2019 and 2020”. Regarding the increase in the proportion of women, Defense Minister Tanner emphasizes: “We are on the right track, but we are still a long way from reaching our goal. There is still a lot of work ahead of us.” Existing measures have already been consolidated in previous years, and now a further seven measures are to be implemented with the aim of increasing the proportion of women. Among other things, the ongoing “Fit for the Army” project will be continued. In addition, a fitness app is to help female recruits achieve the required physical performance in future. Women and female soldiers are to be increasingly recruited for training as information officers and help with recruitment measures. Defense Minister Tanner sees these measures as an important step towards attracting women to the military profession: “Being a soldier means doing a diverse and varied job. We regularly offer taster and information days for interested women.” The Minister would also like to “continuously and sustainably increase the number of female soldiers in the armed forces” by continuing the measures and improvements to the profession of soldier. Since 2004, the Armed Forces have regularly offered preparation days or weekends as well as taster and career days. In order to promote and support young female soldiers, the army also offers a special mentoring program: “newcomers” are to be accompanied in their training by a trained mentor, a female soldier.
In 2020, the department for “Human Security Affairs with regard to Deployment” was implemented in the Ministry of Defense. One focus of the unit is to increase the proportion of female soldiers and the deployment of women abroad. The Ministry of Defense is also part of an interministerial working group for the further development of the National Action Plan for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution “Women, Peace and Security”. As part of the resolution and with the aim of increasing the presence of female soldiers in foreign missions, the role of “Gender Advisor” was introduced in NATO missions. In 2019 and 2020, the Austrian Armed Forces deployed two female soldiers abroad in this role for the first time. In the last two years, an average of 27 women have been deployed abroad every month – in roles such as military doctor, staff officer or military observer. The Austrian Armed Forces have long been concerned with the issues of gender mainstreaming, anti-discrimination and the advancement of women. The Armed Forces benefit from gender equality not only in terms of the increased quality of task performance and the expanded pool of talent, but also through improved problem-solving capacity and increased flexibility in the organization.
