Poland doubles number of women in armed forces in six years

The number of women serving in Poland’s armed forces has almost doubled since 2015, to 7.5% of all soldiers.

A defence ministry representative said that women are drawn to military careers by prestige, stable employment and equal pay. The figure, however, remains lower than for many of Poland’s allies.

The number of women serving in the armed forces in Poland has been rising steadily every year. In January 2021 there were 8,259 female soldiers – up by 11% since the last tally in late 2019 and almost twice the figure from 2015, when there were 4,132 women, reports PAP.

According to January’s figures, some 2,223 women serve as officers in the army – almost 11% of the officer corps – and 317 hold positions of command across the armed forces.

Women are particularly numerous in Poland’s Territorial Defence Force, a reserve component of the military founded in 2016 and consisting of professional and part-time volunteer soldiers. The force now has more than 4,000 female members – almost 18% of its soldiers and 1,000 more women than in late 2019.

Lt. Col. Beata Targońska, chair of the women’s council at the Ministry of Defence, said that the main reason women are choosing a career in the forces is “the prestige of being a soldier,” reports PAP.

“It is a profession of public trust in which you can do unique tasks, fulfil your dreams of being, for example, a ship commander, pilot, diver, medic or nurse bringing aid not only in peacetime, but also in war, when you go on missions,” she told PAP.

Targońska added that some women wish to continue family traditions, while others are attracted by the stability and guaranteed conditions of service. “It is important to note that the army is one of few institutions guaranteeing equal pay to women and men,” she said.

Poland opened military training academies to women in 1999, the same year it joined the NATO military pact. In 2000, women comprised just 0.1% of the 239,000 members of Poland’s armed forces. In 2003 women were given access to all military positions, but two years later still accounted for just 0.2% of military personnel.

Despite the rapid increase – which was the largest rise in NATO according to the organisation’s comparative statistics in 2018, the latest year on record – Poland still lags behind many of its military allies.

In 2018, the NATO average percentage of active female military personnel was 11.3%. Hungary led the way with 19.9%, while the French and German armed forces had 15% and 12% respectively of women in their ranks.

Poland, however, had the third lowest percentage of women leaving the army at 3.1% in 2018, following Turkey (0.8%) and Montenegro (3%).

During the pandemic, soldiers serving in the medical corps have faced particular challenges, PAP reports. There are currently 773 women in this corps, but more than 4,000 from across the armed services have been called upon to help enforce quarantine, support hospitals and testing, and help with vaccinations.

Main image credit: Wojciech Kardas/Agencja Gazeta

Ben Koschalka

Ben Koschalka is a translator and senior editor at Notes from Poland. Originally from Britain, he has lived in Kraków since 2005.