Since the European Union launched the EU Naval Force in December 2008 to help deter and repress attacks by armed pirates on merchant vessels off the coast of Somalia, women have played a key role.

Working alongside their male counterparts, women are deployed on board Operation Atalanta warships and maritime patrol aircraft in a range of roles, including navigator, pilot, gunner, doctor and helicopter maintainer.

If you ask Operation Atalanta women what International Women’s Day means to them, they would probably say (in between making sure that the helicopter takes off on time and the warship remains in its navigation track), that it is an opportunity to highlight to other women that there are many roles available to them now that would not have been just a few years ago.