British Army aims to attract more women into the ranks

The British Army has unveiled a new recruitment campaign encouraging more women to sign up.

Outsourcing firm Capita has launched ‘A Soldier Is A Soldier’, which aims to show that soldiers are defined by their skills not gender.

It said the campaign highlights that the Army is an inclusive employer with equal pay according to rank, and equal expectations for all soldiers, regardless of gender.

Female representation is currently at 9.8% in the British Army and 14.2% in the Army Reserves, Capita added.

Major General Sharon Nesmith, general officer commanding army recruiting, said: “The army is incredibly proud of the progress that has been made towards gender equality.

“Huge changes have taken place over the last few years, and we want to continue to make positive changes to attract and retain the best talent regardless of gender.

“We hope that A Soldier Is A Soldier challenges people’s perceptions of female soldiers and highlights the incredible work all of our soldiers do, in order to inspire potential new recruits to consider army jobs.”

The campaign will see a series of adverts across cinema, video-on-demand, radio and social media.

One video advert, narrated by serving female soldiers, opens with the question “what’s it like being a female soldier?” with the narrator replying “I wouldn’t know” because in the Army, a soldier is a soldier”.

It also shows “ridiculous concepts” of female-adapted equipment such as “beach body rations” and a rifle with an “easy-pull trigger for smaller hands”, and outlines how these do not exist.

The voiceover goes on to speak about how there are no male or female signs on toilet doors or teams of women in the Army.