over the last twenty years women have expanded their military roles, thereby challenging the perception that armed forces are a male domain. Several factors explain the increased participation of women in the military. Need for women’s recruitment The most significant inroads have been made in times of emergency and in times of war. Under these circumstances, the state needs to mobilize as many citizens as possible to respond to crises, and women’s participation therefore becomes a necessity. Typically, women initially fill military roles related to their gender roles in society, such as that of nurses, which was the first role to be performed specifically by women in Western military institutions. Though times of war have resulted in increases in the number of women in the armed forces, this has not been sustained after those wars, when most women return (not always voluntarily) to their traditional roles. Transition to an all-volunteer force The transition to professional military systems plays a role in increasing women’s participation in the armed forces. As opposed to conscription, which is usually only obligatory for men, voluntary (or professional) military systems normally include women. Sometimes countries make a partial transition to professional armed forces, using volunteers to fill vacancies created by a lack of conscripts. In Russia, for example, the conscript system has, for various reasons, failed to bring a sufficient number of young men into the armed forces. Thus, contract service was introduced in the late 1980s as a volunteer, or professional, element to bring additional personnel to the armed forces. Since its introduction, women have made up a considerable portion of the volunteers: up to 50 per cent at the end of the 1990s. Albeit mostly in lower-ranking positions, the overall participation of women in the Russian armed forces increased from 3 per cent at the beginning of the 1990s to 10 per cent in the same decade.237 Changing cultural values Arguably the most important factor that has propelled the expansion of the role of women in the military has been changing cultural values about women’s roles. This has by no means been a natural process. Women, individually and collectively, have fought for equal rights in both the private and public spheres, and have demanded their inclusion in all professions through political and legal action. Women’s emancipation is closely linked with a general increase in women’s participation in the workforce. These broad social changes have altered women’s and men’s opinions about whether or not military roles should be open to women, and they have sped up the process of women’s integration in the military. Rise of non-combat jobs In the 20th century, the stereotype of soldiers as warriors has been eroded by the bureaucratization and computerization of armed forces.238 These developments have led to a great rise in non-combat jobs in administrative, logistical, medical, and other sectors of the armed forces. The rise of non-combat jobs is one of the factors contributing to the increased participation of women in the armed forces. 5. Levels of Participation In recent years, women have come to play an increasingly important part in Western armed forces, and most countries have granted women the legal right to serve in the armed forces. 237  Jennifer Mathers, “Women in the Russian Armed Forces: A Marriage of Convenience?”, Minerva: Quarterly Report on Women and the Military, Fall-Winter 2000. 238  Kümmel, op. cit., note 224. 118 Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel