Even in one of the more egalitarian societies, namely Israel, the inclusion of women in front line combat has waxed and waned depending on the era.  Israel, especially early in its history, has experienced shortages of able-bodied men, and it is during such desperate times that women were deployed in what we could consider light infantry roles and as members of crew-served heavy weapons. 

To be sure, when adequate numbers if male soldiers could be met, the Israel Defense Forces almost routinely restricted women to support roles such as truck drivers or medical personnel.  The reason?  Like most mainstream Americans, Israeli (male) political leaders and military commanders feared that female soldiers if captured by the enemy, would bear a disproportionate and unacceptable risk of rape, repeated sexual abuse, or worse.

It is a matter of record that the discovery of a defiled female Israeli soldier's corpse led to an almost immediate withdrawal of Israeli females from front line duty.