On April 15, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced he was ending the Defense Department’s Women, Peace, and Security program.

The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) is an initiative of the United Nations. The purpose of it is to promote women’s participation in the military. The WPS also aims to advocate for women's equality in the military. Some things the WPS has pushed for include preventing sexual violence within the military, providing uniforms and armor that fit women's bodies, and including women in peace-making processes like negotiation.

Hegseth is trying to end the United States' involvement with this program. He claims that WPS is a “woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops,” as he said on a social media post. However, WPS was passed by President Trump in his first term and was endorsed by his daughter and former Senior White House Advisor, Ivanka Trump, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he was in the Senate.

“The Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) initiative isn’t ‘woke’—it’s smart, strategic policy grounded in decades of research and bipartisan law, signed by President Trump in 2017. Dismissing WPS as a ‘UN feminist plot’ is not just ignorant—it’s dangerous. It denies the reality on the ground, ignores our own defense and diplomatic priorities, and weakens our national security,” said Senator Frankel in response to Hegseth’s statement.

Although Hegseth claims that he ended WPS, he has not officially stated how he plans to eliminate it. Many are wondering what the end of WPS would mean for women in the military. The Defense Department has found that women's involvement in negotiations has led to more successful and longer-lasting peace agreements. Ending WPS would allow for the exclusion of women and result in fewer peace agreements overall. With less protection, sexual violence and harassment will likely increase. In addition, the uncertainty of how ending WPS will impact women is discouraging for those considering enlisting.

To continue, this is not the first time Hegseth has attempted to eliminate initiatives he views as “woke.” According to Senior Defense writer for “The Hill,” Ellen Mitchell, Hegseth has “ended any commemorations of identity-based celebrations such as Black History Month, removed certain books from the U.S. Naval Academy — including those on the Holocaust, histories of civil rights, racism, and feminism — and ordered Army and Air Force libraries to identify books related to DEI.”