DCAF produced a paper on the role of gender in ombuds institutions for the armed forces. It was mandated by the Fifth International Conference of Ombuds Institutions for the Armed Forces. The paper seeks to provide an introduction to this issue by looking, first, at some of the key issues and challenges relating to gender and the armed forces, and, second, at the ways in which ombuds institutions can help to improve equality, reduce discrimination, and deal with specific issues such as bullying and harassment. It concludes with a small number of recommendations on improving gender equality (and non-discrimination more generally) in the armed forces.