List of female defence ministers

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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 length
Sirimavo Bandaranaike		Ceylon/ Sri Lanka	Asia	21 July 1960	25 March 1965	4 years, 247 days
				29 May 1970	23 July 1977	7 years, 55 days
Indira Gandhi		India	Asia	30 November 1975	20 December 1975	20 days
				14 January 1980	15 January 1982	2 years, 1 day
Dame Eugenia Charles		Dominica	North America	1985	1990	5 years, 0 days
Benazir Bhutto		Pakistan	Asia	4 December 1988	6 August 1990	1 year, 245 days
Violeta Chamorro		Nicaragua	North America	25 April 1990	10 January 1997	6 years, 260 days
Elisabeth Rehn		Finland	Europe	13 June 1990	1 January 1995	4 years, 202 days
Khaleda Zia		Bangladesh	Asia	27 February 1991	30 March 1996	5 years, 32 days
				1 October 2001	29 October 2006	5 years, 28 days
Kim Campbell		Canada	North America	4 January 1993	25 June 1993	172 days
Chandrika Kumaratunga		Sri Lanka	Asia	14 November 1994	12 December 2001	7 years, 28 days
Anneli Taina		Finland	Europe	13 April 1995	15 April 1999	4 years, 2 days
Sheikh Hasina		Bangladesh	Asia	12 June 1996	15 July 2001	5 years, 33 days
				6 January 2009	Incumbent	13 years, 37 days
Regina Ip		Hong Kong	Asia	31 August 1998	25 July 2003	4 years, 328 days
Eldbjørg Løwer		Norway	Europe	15 March 1999	10 March 2000	361 days
Joice Mujuru		Zimbabwe	Africa	8 June 2001	8 August 2001	61 days
Kristin Krohn Devold		Norway	Europe	19 October 2001	17 October 2005	3 years, 363 days
Michelle Bachelet		Chile	South America	7 January 2002	1 October 2004	2 years, 268 days
Cynthia Pratt		Bahamas	North America	7 May 2002	4 May 2007	4 years, 362 days
Michèle Alliot-Marie		France	Europe	7 May 2002	18 May 2007	5 years, 11 days
Željka Antunović		Croatia	Europe	30 July 2002	23 December 2003	1 year, 146 days
Marta Lucía Ramírez		Colombia	South America	7 August 2002	9 November 2003	1 year, 94 days
Lena Hjelm-Wallén		Sweden	Europe	30 September 2002	22 October 2002	22 days
Mame Madior Boye		Senegal	Africa	2 October 2002	4 November 2002	33 days
Leni Björklund		Sweden	Europe	4 November 2002	6 October 2006	3 years, 336 days
Sylvia Flores		Belize	North America	5 March 2003	5 January 2004	306 days
Filomenha Mascarenhas Tipote		Guinea-Bissau	Africa	23 April 2003	12 May 2004	1 year, 19 days
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo		Philippines	Asia	1 September 2003	2 October 2003	31 days
				30 November 2006	1 February 2007	63 days
Azucena Berrutti		Uruguay	South America	1 March 2005	3 March 2008	3 years, 2 days
Anne-Grete Strøm-Erichsen		Norway	Europe	17 October 2005	20 October 2009	4 years, 3 days
				21 September 2012	16 October 2013	1 year, 25 days
Nilda Garré		Argentina	South America	28 November 2005	15 December 2010	5 years, 17 days
Solvita Āboltiņa		Latvia	Europe	23 December 2005	5 January 2006	13 days
Linda Abu Meri		Latvia	Europe	5 January 2006	7 April 2006	92 days
Cristina Fontes Lima		Cape Verde	Africa	8 March 2006	21 March 2011	5 years, 13 days
Vivianne Blanlot		Chile	South America	11 March 2006	27 March 2007	1 year, 16 days
Portia Simpson-Miller		Jamaica	North America	30 March 2006	11 September 2007	1 year, 165 days
				5 January 2012	3 March 2016	4 years, 58 days
Vlasta Parkanová		Czech Republic	Europe	9 January 2007	8 May 2009	119 days
Guadalupe Larriva		Ecuador	South America	15 January 2007	24 January 2007	9 days
		Ecuador	South America	2 February 2007	30 August 2007	209 days
Ruth Tapia Roa		Nicaragua	North America	16 May 2007	14 May 2012	4 years, 364 days
Yuriko Koike		Japan	Asia	4 July 2007	27 August 2007	54 days
Cécile Manorohanta		Madagascar	Africa	27 October 2007	9 February 2009	1 year, 105 days
Carme Chacón		Spain	Europe	14 April 2008	22 December 2011	3 years, 252 days
Elsa Teixeira Pinto		São Tomé and Príncipe	Africa	22 June 2008	14 August 2010	2 years, 53 days
Ljubica Jelušič		Slovenia	Europe	21 November 2008	10 February 2012	3 years, 81 days
Rasa Juknevičienė		Lithuania	Europe	9 December 2008	13 December 2012	3 years, 4 days
Lindiwe Sisulu		South Africa	Africa	10 May 2009	12 June 2012	3 years, 33 days
Bidhya Devi Bhandari		Nepal	Asia	25 May 2009	6 February 2011	1 year, 257 days
Angélique Ngoma		Gabon	Africa	17 October 2009	14 January 2011	1 year, 89 days
Grete Faremo		Norway	Europe	20 October 2009	11 November 2011	2 years, 22 days
Gitte Lillelund Bech		Denmark	Europe	23 February 2010	3 October 2011	1 year, 222 days
Lesego Motsumi		Botswana	Africa	30 August 2010	7 February 2011	161 days
María Cecilia Chacón		Bolivia	South America	6 April 2011	26 September 2011	173 days
Iveta Radičová		Slovakia	Europe	28 November 2011	4 April 2012	128 days
Milica Pejanović-Đurišić		Montenegro	Europe	13 March 2012	28 November 2016	4 years, 260 days
Catharina Elmsäter-Svärd		Sweden	Europe	29 March 2012	18 April 2012	20 days
Karin Enström		Sweden	Europe	18 April 2012	3 October 2014	2 years, 168 days
		Nicaragua	North America	14 May 2012	4 March 2013	294 days
Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula		South Africa	Africa	12 June 2012	5 August 2021	9 years, 54 days
		Paraguay	South America	25 June 2012	15 August 2013	1 year, 51 days
Olusola Obada		Nigeria	Africa	22 June 2012	11 September 2013	1 year, 81 days
Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert		Netherlands	Europe	5 November 2012	3 October 2017	4 years, 332 days
María Fernanda Espinosa		Ecuador	South America	28 November 2012	23 September 2014	1 year, 299 days
Karolína Peake		Czech Republic	Europe	12 December 2012	20 December 2012	8 days
Martha Elena Ruiz Sevilla		Nicaragua	North America	4 March 2013	Incumbent	8 years, 345 days
Raychelle Omamo		Kenya	Africa	15 May 2013	14 January 2020	6 years, 244 days
Yingluck Shinawatra		Thailand	Asia	30 June 2013	7 May 2014	311 days
Carmen Meléndez		Venezuela	South America	5 July 2013	25 October 2014	1 year, 112 days
Mimi Kodheli		Albania	Europe	15 September 2013	11 September 2017	3 years, 361 days
Ine Marie Eriksen Søreide		Norway	Europe	16 October 2013	20 October 2017	4 years, 4 days
Ursula von der Leyen		Germany	Europe	17 December 2013	17 July 2019	5 years, 212 days
Roberta Pinotti		Italy	Europe	22 February 2014	1 June 2018	4 years, 99 days
Cadi Mané		Guinea-Bissau	Africa	4 July 2014	13 October 2015	1 year, 101 days
Marie-Noëlle Koyara		Central African Republic	Africa	17 January 2015	29 October 2015	286 days
				12 September 2017	10 June 2021	3 years, 271 days
Marina Pendeš		Bosnia and Herzegovina	Europe	31 March 2015	23 December 2019	4 years, 315 days
Tina Khidasheli		Georgia	Asia/Europe	1 May 2015	30 July 2016	1 year, 90 days
Andreja Katič		Slovenia	Europe	13 May 2015	13 September 2018	3 years, 123 days
Marise Payne		Australia	Oceania	21 September 2015	26 August 2018	2 years, 339 days
Adiato Djaló Nandigna		Guinea-Bissau	Africa	13 October 2015	2 June 2016	233 days
Tomomi Inada		Japan	Asia	3 August 2016	28 July 2017	359 days
María Dolores de Cospedal		Spain	Europe	4 November 2016	1 June 2018	1 year, 209 days
Sylvie Goulard		France	Europe	17 May 2017	19 June 2017	33 days
Radmila Šekerinska		North Macedonia	Europe	1 June 2017	Incumbent	4 years, 256 days
Florence Parly		France	Europe	21 June 2017	Incumbent	4 years, 236 days
Nirmala Sitharaman		India	Asia	3 September 2017	31 May 2019	1 year, 270 days
Olta Xhaçka		Albania	Europe	11 September 2017	31 December 2020	3 years, 111 days
Ank Bijleveld		Netherlands	Europe	26 October 2017	17 September 2021	3 years, 326 days
Karla Šlechtová		Czech Republic	Europe	13 December 2017	28 June 2018	197 days
Elisabetta Trenta		Italy	Europe	1 June 2018	5 September 2019	1 year, 96 days
Margarita Robles		Spain	Europe	7 June 2018	Incumbent	3 years, 250 days
Oppah Muchinguri		Zimbabwe	Africa	11 September 2018	Incumbent	3 years, 154 days
Aisha Mohammed Mussa		Ethiopia	Africa	16 October 2018	18 April 2019	184 days
Mariya Ahmed Didi		Maldives	Asia	17 November 2018	Incumbent	3 years, 87 days
Viola Amherd		Switzerland	Europe	1 January 2019	Incumbent	3 years, 42 days
Rose Christiane Raponda		Gabon	Africa	12 February 2019	16 July 2020	1 year, 155 days
Lanelle Tanangada		Solomon Islands	Oceania	25 April 2019	10 October 2019	159 days
Penny Mordaunt		United Kingdom	Europe	1 May 2019	24 July 2019	84 days
Linda Reynolds		Australia	Oceania	29 May 2019	25 March 2021	1 year, 300 days
Trine Bramsen		Denmark	Europe	27 June 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 230 days
Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer		Germany	Europe	17 July 2019	8 December 2021	2 years, 144 days
Klaudia Tanner		Austria	Europe	7 January 2020	Incumbent	2 years, 36 days
Monica Juma		Kenya	Africa	14 January 2020	30 September 2021	1 year, 259 days
Zeina Akar		Lebanon	Asia	22 January 2020	10 September 2021	1 year, 231 days
Angelina Teny		South Sudan	Africa	12 March 2020	Incumbent	1 year, 337 days
Krishna Mathoera		Suriname	South America	16 July 2020	Incumbent	1 year, 211 days
Ludivine Dedonder		Belgium	Europe	1 October 2020	Incumbent	1 year, 134 days
Essozimna Marguerite Gnakade		Togo	Africa	1 October 2020[1]	Incumbent	1 year, 134 days
Nuria Esparch		Peru	America	18 November 2020	29 July 2021	253 days
Olivera Injac		Montenegro	Europe	4 December 2020	Incumbent	1 year, 70 days
Thandi Modise		South Africa	Africa	6 August 2021	Incumbent	190 days
Anita Anand		Canada	North America	26 October 2021	Incumbent	109 days
Christine Lambrecht		Germany	Europe	8 December 2021	Incumbent	66 days
Jana Černochová		Czech Republic	Europe	17 December 2021	Incumbent	57 days
Kajsa Ollongren		Netherlands	Europe	10 January 2022	Incumbent	33 days

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)