The Ministry of Internal Affairs will include in the recruitment rules in 2021 minimum indicators of 15% of women for GNR guards and 20% for PSP agents, the Government said today.

Within the scope of the celebration of the International Women’s Day, which is marked this Monday, the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI) defends that “better reflect the society as a whole, deconstructing prejudices that still limit the freedom of women in choosing their professional path” is one of the purposes to be achieved with the increase of female representation in the Security Forces and Services (FSS)”.

For MAI, whose minister Eduardo Cabrita chairs this Monday’s meeting of the Commission for Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination of the Republican National Guard, it is yet another opportunity to promote gender equality in the FSS and Civil Protection, says a note of press.

“This priority stems from the important contribution that the greater female representation has in improving the engagement of the security forces with citizens and, in particular, in preventing and combating phenomena such as domestic violence – in 2020, 27,609 complaints were registered, 6.3% less than in 2019 as well as female genital mutilation and human trafficking ”, says MAI.

At the end of 2020 there were 3,511 women in the security forces: 1,625 military personnel in the GNR, 1,622 police officers in the PSP and 264 inspectors in the SEF.

This number corresponded to 8% of the total staff of the three police structures, while at the level of Civil Protection there were 22% of women in the firefighters.

In comparative terms, the MAI note informs that there is a doubling of the number of women in the FSS compared to 2000, when there were 1,770: 214 in the GNR, 1,447 in the PSP and 109 in the SEF.

The GNR Commission for Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination was created in 2019 and comprises 12 men and women (officers, sergeants, officers and civilians) who serve in different organs and commands of the Guard.

In terms of leadership positions, GNR currently has 18 women in charge of territorial detachments and in the Coastal Control Unit, while another 15 command territorial posts.

In the PSP, there are two women commanding the Metropolitan Command of Porto and the District of Aveiro and 38 commanding squadrons.