A Ministry of Defence or Defense (see spelling differences), also known as a Department of Defence or Defense, is the common name for a part of the government found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments, responsible for matters of defence. The title Defence Minister, Minister for Defence, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State for Defence, Secretary of National Defense or some other titles, is assigned to the person in a cabinet position in charge of this particular ministry, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of Minister of Defence serves an integral part in a country's military purposes. This role has traditionally been given to men because of the gender-biased nature of the military office. However, recent years have seen the appointment of female Defence Ministers. The following list shows group of women that are/were entitled with the title of Minister of Defence in charge in regulating the armed forces in their respective countries. The first woman ever entitled to this job was the then-Prime Minister of Ceylon, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, back in 1960s.
List
Italics denotes an acting defence minister and minister of non-sovereign state
Name Image Country Continent Mandate start Mandate end Term lengthSirimavo Bandaranaike/AsiaIndira GandhiAsiaDame Eugenia CharlesNorth AmericaBenazir BhuttoAsiaVioleta ChamorroNorth AmericaElisabeth RehnEuropeKhaleda ZiaAsiaKim CampbellNorth AmericaChandrika KumaratungaAsiaAnneli TainaEuropeSheikh HasinaAsiaLaura Chinchilla Miranda In Costa Rica, Ministry of Public Security is in charge of maintaining public order, organizing police forces, preventing crime and, if necessary, defending national sovereignty. North AmericaRegina IpAsiaEldbjørg LøwerEuropeJoice MujuruAfricaKristin Krohn DevoldEuropeMichelle BacheletSouth AmericaCynthia A. PrattNorth AmericaMichèle Alliot-MarieEuropeŽeljka AntunovićEuropeMarta Lucía RamírezSouth AmericaLena Hjelm-WallénEuropeMame Madior BoyeAfricaLeni BjörklundEuropeSylvia FloresNorth AmericaFilomena Mascarenhas TipoteAfricaGloria Macapagal ArroyoAsiaAzucena BerruttiSouth AmericaAnne-Grete Strøm-ErichsenEuropeNilda GarréSouth AmericaSolvita ĀboltiņaEuropeLinda Abu MeriEuropeCristina Fontes LimaAfricaVivianne BlanlotSouth AmericaPortia Simpson-MillerNorth AmericaValgerður Sverrisdóttir In Iceland, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the central authority for national defence.EuropeVlasta ParkanováEuropeGuadalupe LarrivaSouth AmericaLorena EscuderoSouth AmericaRuth Tapia RoaNorth AmericaIngibjörg Sólrún GísladóttirEuropeYuriko KoikeAsiaCécile ManorohantaAfricaCarme ChacónEuropeJanina del Vecchio UgaldeNorth AmericaElsa Teixeira PintoAfricaLjubica JelušičEuropeRasa JuknevičienėEuropeLindiwe SisuluAfricaBidhya Devi BhandariAsiaAngélique NgomaAfricaGrete FaremoEuropeGitte Lillelund BechEuropeLesego MotsumiAfricaMaría Cecilia ChacónSouth AmericaIveta RadičováEuropeMilica Pejanović-ĐurišićEuropeCatharina Elmsäter-SvärdEuropeKarin EnströmEuropeMaritza Pastora Membreño MoralesNorth AmericaNosiviwe Mapisa-NqakulaAfricaMaría Liz García de ArnoldSouth AmericaOlusola ObadaAfricaJeanine Hennis-PlasschaertEuropeMaría Fernanda EspinosaSouth AmericaKarolína PeakeEuropeMartha Elena Ruiz SevillaNorth AmericaRaychelle OmamoAfricaYingluck ShinawatraAsiaCarmen MeléndezSouth AmericaMimi KodheliEuropeIne Marie Eriksen SøreideEuropeUrsula von der LeyenEuropeRoberta PinottiEuropeCadi ManéAfricaMarie-Noëlle KoyaraAfricaMarina PendešEuropeTina KhidasheliAsia/EuropeAndreja KatičEuropeMarise PayneOceaniaAdiato Djaló NandignaAfricaLilja Dögg AlfreðsdóttirEuropeTomomi InadaAsiaMaría Dolores de CospedalEuropeSylvie GoulardEuropeRadmila ŠekerinskaEuropeFlorence ParlyEuropeNirmala SitharamanAsiaOlta XhaçkaEuropeAnk BijleveldEuropeKarla ŠlechtováEuropeElisabetta TrentaEuropeMargarita RoblesEuropeIncumbentOppah Muchinguri-KashiriAfricaIncumbentAisha Mohammed MussaAfricaMariya Ahmed DidiAsiaViola AmherdEuropeRose Christiane RapondaAfricaLanelle TanangadaOceaniaPenny MordauntEuropeLinda ReynoldsOceaniaTrine BramsenEuropeAnnegret Kramp-KarrenbauerEuropeRosa Adelina Barahona CastroNorth AmericaIncumbentKlaudia TannerEuropeIncumbentMonica JumaAfricaZeina AkarAsiaAngelina TenyAfricaKrishna MathoeraSouth AmericaLudivine DedonderEuropeEssozimna Marguerite GnakadeAfricaNuria EsparchSouth AmericaOlivera InjacEuropeThandi ModiseAfricaStergomena TaxAfricaAnita AnandNorth AmericaÞórdís Kolbrún R. GylfadóttirEuropeChristine LambrechtEuropeJana ČernochováEuropeKajsa OllongrenEuropeSlavjanka PetrovskaEuropeFélicité Ongouori NgoubiliAfrica8 March 202230 August 2023Maya FernándezSouth AmericaHelena CarreirasEuropeInāra MūrnieceEuropeYuriko BackesEuropeIncumbentGeraldine GeorgeAfricaIncumbentJudith CollinsOceaniaAngie MotshekgaAfricaIncumbentDovilė ŠakalienėEuropeÞorgerður Katrín GunnarsdóttirEuropeIncumbentSandra LazoSouth AmericaIncumbentAdriana DelpianoSouth AmericaCatherine VautrinEuropeIncumbentHelen McEnteeEuropeIncumbentDilan YeşilgözEuropeIncumbent
Notes
See also List of current defence ministers Defence diplomacy
References
External links Female Defence Ministers Rulers.org List of rulers throughout time and places Female Defense Ministers from Georgia and Norway discuss NATO, gender, civil society: interview for Caucasian Journal (2021)