?In celebration of Women's Month, Prof Lindy Heinecken from the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology writes in an article for the Cape Argus that the South African National Defence Force has made significant strides in addressing gender equality. However, women continue to face many obstacles that affect their inclusion and exclusion in the military. The reasons are diverse and depend on their position in the military, as well as personal circumstances.
- Read the original article below or click here for the piece as published.
Lindy Heinecken*
While the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) has made significant strides in addressing gender equality, women continue to face many obstacles that affect their inclusion and exclusion in the military. The reasons are diverse and depend on their position in the military, as well as personal circumstances. In celebration of this year's Women's Day (9 August) and Women's Month, I would like to focus on some of the most pertinent issues, in no specific order of priority.
The first pertains to their representation in senior leadership. Although women now represent roughly 25% of the SANDF, they are still underrepresented in senior leadership positions. This limits the opportunities for women to influence decision-making processes, integrate gender perspectives into all aspects of military operations and policies, and disrupt existing gendered practices. Although the SANDF has implemented programmes to develop women's leadership skills and prepare them for higher-ranking positions, there needs to be more commitment to addressing issues that affect women's career progression. This can include having workshops and training to challenge gender stereotypes and to link leadership evaluations to progress on gender integration goals.
The second major challenge affecting the recruitment, retention, and morale of women is the issue of sexual harassment, gender-based violence, and abuse. While not unique to the military, the military presents conditions that can exacerbate gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and abuse given its masculine organizational culture. Sexism remains rife, which feeds into various forms of sexual and gender harassment, which ranges from the use of sexualized language, jokes, and discriminatory comments to sexual proposals, abuse, and rape. The problem is that these are often under-reported due to concerns about the impact this may have on their careers, a lack of faith in the chain of command, and the ability to address these in a timely fashion.
While the SANDF has policies and procedures for reporting and addressing these issues, their effective implementation and impact vary across different units. Government reports and media sources present a mixed picture regarding the SANDF's effectiveness in addressing sexual and gender-based harassment. Critics argue that the SANDF's hierarchical structure, culture, and lack of independent reporting mechanisms hinder effective reporting and resolution of cases. For this reason, there must be continuous evaluation and improvement to ensure that women can report these instances fairly and equitably.
The third, major obstacle facing women is the need to balance their military career with family responsibilities, such as childcare and elder care. Balancing military duties with family responsibilities is more difficult for women, often leading to career disruptions, preventing them from going on military courses necessary for promotion, as well as their availability to deploy on military operations. Women often choose roles that make it easier to balance their dual responsibilities, which limits their opportunities for career progression compared to their male counterparts. A possible way to counter this is to have more flexible work arrangements and support services that can help alleviate some of these pressures. However, this is often difficult given the bureaucratic rigidity, financial constraints, and operational requirements of the military, which differ from the private sector.
The fourth challenge is a range of operational issues associated with the employment and deployment of women. Although there is now sufficient evidence to show that with the 'right' training, women can participate at a level comparable to men, the 'cult of the body' remains an issue. These debates are linked to the issue of standards, and whether these are based on the appropriate criteria to achieve maximum proficiency to perform the job requirements. This is especially where it pertains to combat roles that require physical strength, stamina, and endurance.
While the SANDF has gone a long way to developing gender-neutral standards, physical fitness, and training standards are still challenging for women, leading to disparities. However, it is not the strength of soldiers, but rather their skills, tactics, and strategies that win wars. Technological advances and the ever-widening range of duties in today's military have meant that soldiers need a range of psychological, physical, and cognitive competencies beyond physical strength.
Besides this, women must deal with several operational challenges that affect their ability to function as equals. One of the most basic is the impact that ill-fitting equipment and uniforms have on performance and comfort. In an interview with a female solider, she said that "The flap-jackets don't fit us, the trousers don't fit us, nothing in this organisation is designed for women. The boots I wear are two sizes too big. Because your boots don't fit your feet, they become swollen and your toenails become blue. They say it is a man's world. We challenge this but … eish [expression of exasperation] … nothing happens."
Hence, at the most basic level, there is a need to ensure that equipment and uniforms are designed to fit a diverse range of body types.
When deployed, they face confront other challenges that affect their optimal utilization. This relates not only to their perceived (in)ability of women to cope with the psychological stresses of operations and unsuitability to serve in combat-type roles but how they are portrayed as potential 'victims' in need of protection. This, together with their roles as 'wives and mothers', often leads to their exclusion from certain operations, which erodes their agency and ability to function as equals.
Given this, there needs to be a closer introspection of how women are trained, deployed, and supported on peacekeeping operations if the ideals advocated in gender mainstreaming and the goals spelled out in United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1325 are to be realized. According to the UNSC, this resolution “reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security."
Based on this, it is clear that more work is needed to create a fully inclusive and equitable environment for women in the SANDF, to ensure that gender equality in the military does not remain an elusive goal.
*Prof Lindy Heinecken is Vice-Dean: Research in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch 中国体育彩票.?
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