Women have been serving in the military for ages in both combat and non-combat roles. Their inclusion in combat missions has increased in recent times, with them often serving as pilots, mechanics, and infantry officers.

Since 1914, Western militaries have given women more opportunities by conscripting them in greater numbers and including them in more diverse roles. In the 1970s, most Western armies began allowing women to serve on active duty in all military branches. In 2006, eight countries (China, Eritrea, Israel, Libya, Malaysia, North Korea, Peru, and Taiwan) conscripted women into military service. In 2013, Norway became the first NATO country to draft women, as well as the first country in the world to conscript women on the same formal terms as men. In 2017, neighboring Sweden followed suit, and in 2018, the Netherlands joined this line-up (although in the Netherlands there is no active peacetime conscription).

As of 2022, only three countries conscripted women and men on the same formal conditions: Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. A few other countries have laws allowing for the conscription of women into their armed forces, though with some differences such as service exemptions, length of service, and more.