More women in security decision-making = stronger responses to Europe’s new risks

As NATO leaders gather in Ankara next week, EIGE's new security brief - to be released next week -shows that women remain under-represented where security priorities are set, from NATO's Council and Military Committee to Europe's armed forces and defence ministries.

A new EIGE security brief released ahead of the NATO Summit shows that women remain largely absent from the highest levels of security decision-making - especially where political authority, military command and defence spending are decided.

Still missing from the rooms where NATO security is decided

The imbalance is visible inside NATO itself.

Women remain a minority around the North Atlantic Council table and the permanent representatives of the Military Committee are still entirely male; and the Alliance has never appointed a woman Secretary General. The civilian side is not much more balanced: women held only one in five NATO civilian leadership posts in 2024.

NATO at a glance: key findings

Taken together, the figures point to a persistent imbalance across NATO's political, military and civilian structures. While progress has been made in parts of the wider security landscape, the Alliance's own decision-making spaces remain overwhelmingly male.

EIGE Director Carlien Scheele says :

"Security decisions are stronger when they reflect the experiences, expertise and realities of the people they are intended to protect. Evidence consistently shows that women's participation in conflict prevention, peace processes and security decision-making contributes to more sustainable outcomes. Yet women remain significantly under-represented in the spaces where priorities are set and resources are allocated.

At a time when Europe faces increasingly complex security threats, we cannot afford to overlook talent, perspectives and knowledge that help us better understand risks and respond effectively to the needs of all citizens."

Security is changing. Who shapes it has not.

Europe's security agenda has widened far beyond conventional warfare. Cyberattacks, hybrid threats, displacement and conflict-related sexual violence now sit alongside questions of deterrence, defence spending and military readiness.

These risks do not fall evenly. Women and girls are more exposed to conflict-related sexual violence, displacement and disrupted access to healthcare; men and boys may face forced recruitment or combat-related harms. Security and defence policies risk missing these realities when women are not meaningfully involved in shaping them. They also fall short when they do not consider how men, women, boys and girls may be affected differently by a situation - or influence it differently - because of gender.

We got in touch with Diana Morais - former Chair NATO Committee on gender perspectives and women, peace and security expert and she asserted that:

"Europe cannot afford narrow decision-making in an age of war. It weakens our security by narrowing what we see, who we listen to, the talent we mobilise and the options we consider. Under today's threats - from military aggression and cyberattacks to disinformation and hybrid warfare - people are affected differently and respond differently depending on their roles, vulnerabilities, access to information, levels of trust, mobility, digital exposure and responsibilities within families and communities. If we fail to understand those differences, we fail to understand the operating environment.

Increasing women's participation and integrating gender perspectives is not about adding a separate agenda to security and defence - it is about making better decisions, using the full talent of our societies, strengthening deterrence and defence, and increasing our ability to prevail against those who threaten our security"

Progress exists - but power remains concentrated

Twenty-five years after the UN Security Council recognised women's role in peace and security, the data tells a mixed story. Some doors have opened. Women invited to address the Security Council rose from 22% in 2015 to 56% in 2024, and women's participation in OSCE field operations increased from 24% in 2020 to 45% in 2025; however, these forms of participation do not translate into decision-making authority.

At EU level, women now head a quarter of civilian Common Security and Defence Policy missions, compared with none in 2020. EU institutions also offer a more balanced picture in some areas, with women holding a majority of key European Commission security and defence posts.

Yet the closer the system gets to command and greater power, the thinner women's representation becomes.

Across 26 EU Member States, women made up only 13% of full-time personnel in national armed forces in 2024. They held just 1% of the highest-ranking military posts in countries with available data. Political leadership tells a similar story: as of November 2025, only four of the EU's 27 defence ministers were women.

The pattern is not an absence of progress. It is that progress remains uneven and most limited in the places where decisions over force, budgets and command are made.

A more pressing security question for Europe

As NATO leaders gather in Ankara next week, the question is not only how much allies spend, how fast they can move, or how strong their deterrence can be.

It is also whether the institutions built to protect peace and security are drawing on all the talent, experience and leadership available.

"At a summit focused on the future of collective defence, this gap should be treated for what it is: a security vulnerability. Europe cannot build credible readiness, resilience or deterrence while leaving part of its talent outside the room, or while ignoring how different people experience, respond to and are targeted by today's threats" adds Diana.