FEMALE CONTRIBUTION TO INTELLIGENCE IN CORRELATION WITH THE PRINCIPLE OF GENDER EQUALITY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES
FEMALE CONTRIBUTION TO INTELLIGENCE IN CORRELATION WITH THE PRINCIPLE OF GENDER EQUALITY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES

Summary/Abstract: The female contribution to the world of espionage and Intelligence had to struggle for acknowledgement in an environment traditionally dominated by men. Today, integrating women into the Intelligence agencies and creating mixt groups of operatives and analysts is an ideological imperative, in line with the principle of gender equality, equity, and equal opportunities, as part of the human dimension of security. The motivation for choosing the topic lies in the fact that ignoring female agents’ warnings has caused wars and humanitarian catastrophes. This article entails three research questions: “Is there a difference between the professional quality of women in the field of Intelligence compared to that of men?”; “What features make women working in the world of espionage unique and irreplaceable?”; “How does the Intelligence Community treat female employees from the gender equality and equal opportunities point of view?” The purpose of these questions is not only to raise the issue of gender (in)equality in Intelligence services, but, above all, to raise awareness among security institutions of the need to have both men and women employed in Intelligence. The main objective of this research work is to provide an analysis of the application of the principle of gender equality and equal opportunities to women working in the world of espionage. The second objective is to present the perception of civil society, the media, and Intelligence institutions, such as OSS, CIA, NKGB, MI5, MOSSAD, and the former Romanian security service (‘Securitate’ from the Communist times) of female contribution to espionage from a gender perspective. This research offers not only a general perspective on equality between women and men, but also a specific one, oriented towards the presence of women in Romanian, American, Soviet, Israeli, and British Intelligence operations and towards the way in which the integration of women is an indicator of the level of equality achieved within military institutions and alike. In order to achieve the established objectives, the research employs the qualitative research method of discourse and content analysis, as well as the case study method. The sources of documentation are specialized works in the field of Intelligence that discuss gender equality and equal opportunities.

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