UNITED STATES
A new women’s group has challenged all US presidential candidates to pledge gender parity in national security posts if elected.
So far 15 contenders — all Democrats, including prominent male candidates such as Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, in addition to Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar — have signed up to the request by the Leadership Council for Women in National Security (LCWINS).
The group has also reached out to President, Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, but has not heard back.
Although the number of female civilian leaders in the Pentagon increased notably under former President Barack Obama, progress has stagnated under the Trump Administration.
Only one Undersecretary of Defence position is occupied by a woman — Ellen Lord (pictured), the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer.
Just 15 per cent of those listed as senior Defence officials on the Department’s website are women.
Experts say the low numbers of women in senior national security positions do not reflect the emerging talent pool.
While more and more young women seem to be going into the field, the numbers dwindle at the highest ranks.
Today, more than half of international affairs graduate students are female, but women have never exceeded 40 per cent of senior positions at the Department of State, while at the Department of Defense, the figure is closer to 20 per cent.
In the military, while 20 per cent of new lieutenants are female, just 12 per cent of colonels are women and less than 10 per cent of generals and admirals.
Washington, DC, 22 August 2019
