Empowering progress: Women leaders transforming the security landscape

International Women's Day 2024 arrives with the United Nations' pragmatic theme: ‘Invest in women: Accelerate progress.’ This is in sync with the global efforts to achieve gender equality, recognizing the central role of women in driving sustainable economies and a stable environment. This day is a reminder of the great achievements of women, and an attempt at appreciating them in treading forward in decision maker roles. Gender equality is not just an ethics issue; it is the primary driver of building a safer and more agile world. And it wouldn’t make any more of a sense than for women to be involved in the sector that directly enables and nurtures safety - physical security.

The role of women in security over the past

Historic difficulties that women were facing were because of the stereotypes and societal norms that confined them from holding meaningful positions in the security sector. Nevertheless, as societies underwent a positive change - the discourse around the security roles of women began to shift. Women's journey in security has been demonstrating the power of resilience and determination, striking the deeply-rooted social biases that limited their involvement in such important fields. The societal obstacles of gender bias, which cost women to suffer exclusion, are gradually being replaced by a more inclusive perspective that recognizes the capability and potential of women to play a prominent part in security.

Evolution of roles

The recent years have witnessed a surge of female participation within the security industry. In contrast to women holding only 10% of roles in security in 2013, the percentage rose up to 20% and 25% in 2019 and 2022 respectively. The growing investment in diversity, breaking free of biases, and accepting women at the top positions, have been turning points in the quest to attain inclusivity. This transformation not only brings about diversity within the workforce, but it also enhances the efficiency of security operations by combining more talents and dynamics.

Increasing presence today

As it is today, women are holding positions in security, intelligence and law enforcement in rising numbers. With the increasing digitization of security processes, physical security is rapidly becoming a collaboration of on-ground surveillance and visionary management through remote control. This has encouraged more and more women to be part of ideation and execution of security protocols. In the light of changing security threats, the industry is gaining the consciousness that only unified efforts, irrespective of ethnicity and gender orientation, can be effective in embarking upon such threats to create a more secure and resilient environment.

Women in security at RecFaces

At RecFaces, women are the key thought leaders driving through the security domain. We are proudly led by Valerie Lapteva, the Director of Business Development, in the Asia-Pacific region. Valerie exemplifies the immense value that women bring to the security sector. Her deep understanding and skills of strategic business development and sales management have greatly influenced business growth and betterment of solutions to address the gaps in security systems.

Valerie has demonstrated exceptional business sense and management skills, from executing numerous projects in the challenging Latin American and Asia-Pacific regions in the past, to taking on an active role in both development and implementation of biometric solutions. It  includes the techniques of face recognition for CCTV and access control systems, exploring the possibilities of such techniques in order to develop all pervasive security solutions. Her pragmatic experience in overseeing biometric projects, active participation in industry exhibitions and proficient revenue forecasting showcase her dedication to ensuring comprehensive customer satisfaction. Valerie’s dynamism and agility made it possible to secure a project with one of the biggest automobile manufacturers in the Asia-Pacific region. In the field that has been traditionally man-handled, Valerie believed in the change that woman-leadership can bring and has committed herself to gender equality and business excellence. Valerie Lapteva’s success story invigorates and ignites the aspirations of women across the sector to welcome leadership roles and reject the constraints arising from traditional ideas.

The future of women in security: Implementing change and empowering success

While casting an introspective glance at women in security, one cannot help but see that great progress went hand in hand with the unavoidable challenges. Previously, women usually found jobs only to raise extra family money, being controlled by cultural norms and deprived of career rights and freedom. However, the security industry landscape over the years is visualizing women as serious entrepreneurs and leading the way to  business in security. The women workforce in the security industry is expected to stand globally at 35% by 2031. The female community in security has great hopes because the shifts in the cultures and expectations are visible.