Australia opens combat roles to women

Wed Sep 28, 2011

Australian Defense Force has approved a government plan to allow women soldiers to serve in frontline combats within the next five years, Press TV reports.

Stephen Smith, Australian defense minister, said that as long as women meet the physical entry standards, they would be able to serve in all military roles, including the Special Forces, infantry and army artillery roles.

“If a woman is fully capable of doing the entrance program for the Special Air Service or Commandos, they'll be in it,” Smith said.

The move has been criticized by the founding member of “Stop the War Coalition” and the campaigner for women's rights, Pip Hinman.

“This reform will do nothing to empower women in our society, if anything, over the next five years it will mean that women will increasingly will be drawn into the longest-running war in Australia's history in Afghanistan,” Hinman told Press TV.

Australian military has sent more than 2,000 troops to fight in Iraq and currently makes up the largest contingent of any non-NATO member fighting in Afghanistan.

As of August, 335 women were serving on overseas operations, accounting for more than 10 percent of Australia's fighting forces deployed overseas.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.com/detail/201655.html.