There are more and more women working in the Slovak defence sector. A total of 4,889 female employees account for 22.9 percent of the workforce. In the Armed Forces of the Slovak Republic alone, female soldiers are represented by 12 per cent. The highest-ranking woman in the army is currently the head of Chief of the General Staffs office.
Out of the women employed in the defence sectors, there are 3020 civilian employees and 1879 professional soldiers. The majority of jobs within the Ministry of Defence are currently filled by women. Women employees in the structures of the Ministry also have a significant share in management, holding almost half (46.3 per cent) of management positions.
In the case of female soldiers, these are in most instances officers, with the highest military rank currently held by a colonel, followed by dozens of lieutenant colonels, majors, captains and lieutenants. Among the female NCOs, the largest number of female officers are sergeants and sergeants-major. Female soldiers are also more often performing tasks in international crisis management missions and operations. Currently, 36 female members of the Slovak Armed Forces are deployed abroad.
Within the Military Police, women have a ten per cent representation. "It is necessary to have female military police officers, especially in direct service, because of some specific activities when carrying out service interventions," explained the director of the Military Police, Valentín Cebo. Some of the interesting positions to which female military police officers are appointed include, for example, senior inspector in the Crisis Management Department or chief of cynology training.
