WASHINGTON — Women face wide disparities and barriers when it comes to serving in the U.S. military's elite special operations forces such as the Army Rangers and the Navy SEALs, according to a government watchdog agency.
The Government Accountability Office says females are under-represented and they face discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual assault.
Women have served in ground-combat roles, including Special Ops since 2013.
But they continue to face lower representation and discrimination, according to a newly re-published December 2022 report from the GAO.
The GAO found that the percentage of female service members in the 78,000-member U.S. Special Operations Command only increased from 7.9% in 2016 to 9.8% in 2021. The GAO notes that that number is still low compared to women's overall representation in the military, which was about 19% in Fiscal Year 2021.
In an interview with 13News Now, GAO Defense Capabilities and Management Team Director Brenda Farrell said that "gender discrimination" and the "male-dominated culture" were listed as the top two most frequently-cited barriers that women face.
"We did hear that this is something that is ingrained in the culture, that women are considered weak, that women can't possibly be a mother and serve in special ops. That seems to be deeply ingrained," she said, adding: "It's important for national security. And it's important for equality."
Twenty-five of 51 current and former special operations women who were interviewed by the GAO reported being sexually harassed. Thirteen said they'd been sexually assaulted and 15 said they experienced retaliation for reporting what happened to them.