Reis, João Carlos Gonçalves dosGonçalves, RafaelMenezes, SofiaKaczynska, Manuela2019-06-202019-06-202020Reis J., Gonçalves R., Menezes S., Kaczynska M. (2020) The Obstacles Women Face in Gaining Access to Special Operations Forces. In: Rocha Á., Pereira R. (eds) Developments and Advances in Defense and Security. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol 152. Springer, Singapore978-981-13-9154-5http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/28962Theaimofthisarticleistoprovideexploratoryinsightsregardingwomen integration in the special operations forces. The methodological approach is qualita- tive and employs a case study research in the Portuguese Army. It includes multiple sources of data collection for corroboration purposes, namely semi-structured inter- views, direct observation and official documents. Although it has been considered a hot-topic in the Portuguese armed forces, and as the Portuguese Republic establishes the legal means to integrate women in all professional areas, reality shows that up to the present days no women have been part of the special operations forces. In light with the above, we evidence some obstacles that women are facing in gaining access to the Portuguese special operations forces, and we present Portugal in comparative perspective with two successful case studies.engWomenSpecial operations forcesPortuguese ArmyMilitaryGenderIntregrationCase studybook parthttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-9155-2_23