The week at a glance...United States

United States

San Francisco

Women in combat: Four military servicewomen who completed tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq sued the U.S. Defense Department this week to end its ban on women in combat. The lawsuit calls the restriction an artifact of a bygone era and asserts that in modern warfare women are frequently in the line of fire. “Our clients in this case have served in capacities where they’re shot at by enemy fire, they’re engaged, they’re attached to combat units,” said Elizabeth Gill of the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the suit. “They’re fighting in exactly the same circumstances as men, but they’re not recognized for that work.” Combat duty is a traditional path to promotions and honors, which are thus unfairly denied to women, the suit alleges; 80 percent of Army officers have combat experience. In all, some 238,000 positions in the armed services remain off-limits for women, said the ACLU.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us