The recent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump has unleashed a torrent of misogynistic and dehumanizing rhetoric aimed at the female Secret Service agents who protected the former president, as well as women working in the security sector.
Rather than focusing on the identity and motives of the shooter, many prominent leaders have used the violence to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Efforts Are Harming America.
The concept of DEI in national security has come under increasing attack in recent years. The backlash is impacting the national security workforce. For example, the recently passed National Defense Authorization Act It prohibits the creation of new DEI positions and the consideration of applicants’ DEI commitments when hiring for certain positions. The rapid response to eliminate DEI has missed a critical opportunity to analyze the return on investment of such programs.
The backlash against DEI also hampers important conversations about what it means to create accessible pathways in national security. This week, girls and women across the United States and around the world have been bombarded with blatantly misogynistic comments on social media. What message does it send to America’s adversaries that it is acceptable for those in positions of power to degrade and dehumanize more than half of our people?
Statements made by non-experts also highlight a lack of understanding of the competencies needed to pursue any security-related career, which go beyond physical ability to include critical thinking.
Women have served effectively in security roles for decades in law enforcement, the military, and intelligence agencies, where physical force is highly visible. Physical force has not caused or prevented assassination attempts.
More importantly, this backlash highlights the unique constraints that women have long overcome in the field of national security, despite their contributions throughout history, but the risks of “othering” women in the security field today are more harmful than ever.
Since World War I, women’s participation in security has been defined by several factors, including the position that women are more peaceful. For decades, one statistic has been repeatedly cited to support this position: women’s participation in conflict resolution is 20 percent lasting peace.
Yet women remain excluded from conflict resolution processes and continue to be underrepresented in the national security decision-making hierarchies that create the need for peace processes in the first place.
Additionally, women have historically been excluded from national security pathways through policies that barred their involvement, such as the Combat Exclusion Policy (enacted in 1995). Lifted in 2013), or rigid or unsafe work environments marked by discrimination and sexual violence. “Women are creators of life, not takers of life” is a refrain often used by those who believe that women’s place is at home, not on the battlefield, on campaign trails, in crisis rooms or in the C-suite.
Despite the challenges women have faced, women’s participation in all careers in national security has always been essential to America’s economy and democracy. Women have made significant progress, especially in national security leadership. Recent Research We found that it contributed to creating more balanced and inclusive decision-making, a culture of cooperation, and a policymaking process that considered a broader range of possibilities beyond traditional national security policy options.
Harmful gender stereotypes perpetuated by recent criticism of women in the security sector pose a threat to our democracy at a time when our country needs a workforce with skills, experiences and cultural expertise as diverse as the threats it faces.
With the advent of artificial intelligence and other technologies, the United States has a critical opportunity to prioritize and invest in the participation of girls and women in both emerging and developing national security areas, like building a more reliable internet and protecting space, before the gender norms that have long entrenched women in the security sector stifle future generations’ leadership and entrepreneurship. This will require investing in skill-building, apprenticeships, and specialized training for girls and women, with support from the private sector and local, state, and federal governments.
Involving girls and women in shaping our national security and defense framework also includes encouraging them to run for office where responsibility for implementing America’s national security priorities is divided between the executive and legislative branches.
Throughout modern American national security history, women have been underrepresented in executive and legislative decision-making fora. For example, women were represented in the 77th Congress during World War II. 1.88% of 531 Total number of members. Currently, members who identify as women are Accounting for 27.3 percent Total number of members.
Increasing girls’ and women’s insights and perspectives on U.S. national security also involves public education about what national security is and how national security decisions are made. In surveys of teens conducted by an organization I founded, Girl SecurityAsk them what “national security” means to them, and they respond with many of the same common perceptions that most Americans probably share: military, spies, The movies “Men in Black” and “CSI,” Crime drama. These perceptions are not inaccurate, but they are only partially informed.
We explain that national security includes agencies across the government, such as Congress and the U.S. Department of State, the United Nations, and, increasingly, the private sector. In addition to the military, national security also includes diplomacy, humanitarian assistance, and now technology.
Additionally, one-third of the U.S. federal budget is allocated to national security and defense. Total: $816.7 billionAccording to a recent summary: Providing resources for national security projects; Individual taxpayers pay an estimated $2,400 a year toward U.S. national security and defense.
Women’s engagement in national security must go beyond the system to include the perspectives and experiences of women across the United States whose tax dollars, livelihoods, and lives are affected every day by national security decisions that demand the attention and investment of the world’s most powerful political branch more than any other societal challenge.
Girls and women grow up in a world where they are protected from nothing and taught to fear everything. From childhood through adulthood, they are security professionals. As America faces the most complex security environment in its history, we cannot afford to marginalize purposeful people who want to contribute to this critical field, especially those who have chosen paths that have historically been marginalized. The future of our democracy requires the involvement of girls and women in our national security.
Lauren Bean Buitta She is the founder and CEO of Girl Security, a national nonprofit that supports girls and women on the path to national security.
