At a time of extremely complex geopolitical architecture, when the world is experiencing the most crises and conflicts since World War II and the international legal order is under a constant identity crisis, in a series of articles we will discuss the role of women in the security environment whose main constant is change, especially in the fastest growing domain of warfare – cyberspace.
Conflicts around the world threaten the civilian population daily and undermine global instability and the sense of personal security. The omnipresence of cyber threats is confirmed by daily attempts to disrupt the normal functioning of critical infrastructure, public goods and services, as well as access to vital information and intellectual property. From that perspective, if we could ever speak of cyber as a single field, at this point in time its influence is so horizontal that every socially conscious and responsible working unit pays serious attention to cybersecurity and education about it.
Women make up over half of society, are present in the security sector and greatly influence public opinion. The safety of girls and women is inextricably linked to the well-being and security of a nation. When women are able to use and build their capacities to the fullest, economies grow, standards of education and public health improve, while political instability and violence decrease.
Where are the women in the story?
On October 31, 2000, the United Nations passed Security Council Resolution 1325, which now includes nine additional resolutions: 1820, 1888, 1889, 1960, 2106, 2122, 2422, 2467, and 2493. It launched the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.
The internal system of a country needs to be well-adapted to have an immediate and tangible impact on the daily challenges faced by women if we are to invoke this agenda. Women, Peace, and Security as a framework promotes two important impulses: the advancement of women in the defense sector and the inclusion of a gender perspective in long-term and strategic security considerations. These mechanisms create opportunities for women to step into serious roles in the defense and security sector, ensuring that strategic decisions are made with inclusion and comprehensiveness. Additionally, incorporating a gender perspective into security strategies allows for a more comprehensive and panoramic understanding of how security issues specifically affect gender, leading to more effective and equitable solutions.
This is particularly true for cybersecurity and the emerging threats related to gender-based violence (GBV), and in particular technology-enabled gender-based violence. The world is currently experiencing more conflicts and crises than ever before, which negatively impacts international security. Women’s participation in the security field has increased in recent years after decades of growth, and partnering with women-led civil society organizations is an effective way to continue to increase women’s participation.
Are quotas the only mechanism for ensuring female presence?
NATO has long recognized the disproportionately devastating impact that conflicts have on women and girls. Women are present in the ranks of every conflict or war, if not as participants then as remaining leaders in reduced communities but unfortunately, almost always as victims of psychophysical and sexual violence used as a tool of war, to influence the morale of those already on the ground. In every conflict, women and girls face challenges that cannot and must not be overlooked and their impact on peace and security as well as the importance of incorporating gender perspectives through the Women, Peace and Security initiative is an extremely important thread in everything the Alliance does.
Despite these efforts, women still represent a small percentage of NATO uniformed personnel (approximately 13 percent) and a slightly higher 23.6 percent in leadership (including civilian) roles. Women leaders in one place in the defense and security sector still feels like a privilege, but it shouldn’t be.
Cyber defense is as much about people as it is about technology. NATO and Allies are responding by strengthening the Alliance’s ability to detect, deter and respond to malicious cyber activities, relying on strong and resilient cyber defenses to fulfill the Alliance’s three core missions – deterrence and defense, crisis prevention and management, and collective security. Women’s leadership, perspectives and contributions are critical to how we collectively respond to security challenges – in all areas – from strategic planning and decision-making to military operations.
The agenda was reinforced at the Washington Summit in July 2024, when NATO leaders endorsed an updated policy on women, peace and security, further integrating gender perspectives into everything NATO does over the next decade.
In her speech, NATO Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, Irene Fehlin, asked: “But how can we harness women’s leadership? We have a collective responsibility to do more. We are here to make the change we seek, to lead by example and to inspire women and girls to join us, now and in the future. As we know, you cannot be what you cannot see. Life shows us how leadership manifests itself in many ways, from politics to civil society. At this critical time for our security and for international peace and stability, as we face multiple security challenges, women’s voices and leadership are vital. Only through our diversity and inclusiveness can we gain a comprehensive understanding of the world and find the right solutions for a longer-lasting and more sustainable peace.”
To increase the chances of success in protecting networks from cyberattacks, it is crucial to involve everyone. Considering different perspectives, women’s experiences can only enhance and advance understanding of the topic. In direct proportion to the growth and development of cybersecurity as a field of work that is only increasing its range every day, the demand for a workforce in this field of different profiles is also growing. The inclusion of women is not only a matter of equality, but also of opportunities. And in this context, a comprehensive approach is needed including different profiles in this domain, i.e. both engineers and analysts as experts, and even more so the academic and political community as well as civil society organizations and the non-governmental sector.
The determination of the Allies to make the principles set out in Resolution 1325 truly come to life and become applicable in the NATO context led to the first formal NATO policy on women, peace and security in December 2007, which focused on how gender perspectives are applied in an operational context. The first Action Plan to support the implementation of this policy was approved at the Lisbon Summit in 2010 on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Resolution 1325. In 2024, NATO Heads of State and Government endorsed a revised Women, Peace and Security policy agenda that sets out four strategic objectives that NATO needs to address: gender-responsive leadership and accountability; participation; prevention and protection.
NATO is also working on UN Security Council Resolution 1820, which focuses on sexual violence in conflict. NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept, the Alliance’s guiding document for the next decade, did not fail to highlight the cross-sectoral cooperation needed to ensure that women truly feel the integration of the Women, Peace and Security agenda across NATO’s three pillars.
NATO works closely with the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the African Union to learn from and build on each other’s experiences.
NATO’s Peace and Security Science Programme promotes concrete cooperation on gender issues between NATO member states and partners, through joint projects, training and exchange of experiences. Partners are always welcome to adopt specific objectives that reflect the principles and support the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Some contribute to the development of education and training activities, helping to ensure that gender perspectives are included in the curricula of NATO training centres and centres of excellence, as well as in pre-deployment training. Sweden, for example, hosts the Nordic Centre for Gender Perspectives in Military Operations.
At NATO Headquarters in Brussels, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Women, Peace and Security serves as the high-level position for all NATO work on the Women, Peace and Security agenda. The position was established in 2012 and became permanent in 2014. In November 2021, Ms. Irene Fellin was appointed as Special Representative. She is supported in her work by Gender Advisors, Gender Focal Points, Working Groups and the NATO Gender Perspectives Committee. Gender Advisors are deployed across NATO military structures and in all operations and missions. These men and women work at the strategic and operational levels and are valuable resources for commanders, who are responsible for the overall integration of gender perspectives in planning, execution and evaluation. Gender Focal Points manage the integration of gender perspectives and the implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda in NATO’s international military headquarters. The Leadership Working Group is a platform for NATO Headquarters and its agencies to engage in the implementation of the agenda. This Working Group provides NATO senior management with insight into progress, challenges and opportunities in implementing this agenda. The Technical Working Group is a NATO staff-level engagement platform used for coordination and information sharing to assist in implementing the agenda across all aspects of NATO’s work.
The NATO Gender Perspectives Committee promotes gender mainstreaming as a strategy for incorporating the experiences of both women and men as an integral dimension of the implementation and evaluation of policies, programmes and military operations.
MA Tamara Lazarevska Siljanoska, Lieutenant, Member of Women4Cyber North Macedonia
