Women under arms? In most countries around the world, military service for women is still voluntary. But the number of countries where there is military service for women is increasing. In which countries?
The latest case of introducing military conscription for women is Denmark. As decided by the parliament there at the end of March, from July 1st all women who have turned 18 on that day will receive a notification of military conscription, and conscription will begin at the beginning of next year.
According to information from the Danish armed forces, women already make up a quarter of the recruits who volunteer for the army. In that country, military service lasts four to twelve months, depending on what the recruits choose during their three-month basic training.
In other countries in northern and western Europe, women must also serve in the army: the Netherlands froze conscription in 1997 and has not yet introduced it, in Norway, general conscription – for both men and women – has existed since the beginning of 2015, and Sweden, which abolished the obligation in 2010, reintroduced it in 2018.
In Sweden, military service lasts from six to 15 months, and a fifth of the military is female. And in practically all positions: the entire military world was stunned by the outcome of a 2005 Western naval exercise in the Pacific, in which Sweden also participated. On that occasion, the Swedish submarine HMSM Halland “sunk” the American aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan – despite all possible surveillance from the air, ships and submarines, all of which were accompanying the carrier. And that Swedish submarine was commanded by a woman.
Equality – or just a mere number
In Israel, military service has been compulsory for women since the founding of the state in 1949, with women serving for two years and men for three years (and recently, members of the ultra-Orthodox religious group). The experience of the Israeli armed forces is also an indicator of a kind of gender discrimination in the armies of the world when it comes to the participation of women in combat operations.
In many countries, women have been accepted into the military if they wanted to, but it is only relatively recently that they have been involved in more than just supply and logistics units. In Israel, however, they have long been involved in combat units.
However, the largest number of countries where women are required to serve in the military is in Africa. There, it is not a question of gender equality, but simply of the number of soldiers available. In Eritrea, everyone must serve in the military for 16 months. The obligation also exists in Chad, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Niger. The obligation for women exists in Côte d'Ivoire, but is not enforced. And in Mozambique, the government recently announced that military service is being extended from two to a term of up to five years.
Most of them are voluntary though
In Asia, Chinese women must join the army between the ages of 18 and 19, if they have a school diploma and meet the requirements for certain military ranks. Women in Burma and East Timor must also join the army. Of course, so does North Korea, where military service begins for girls at the age of 17. How long they will remain in the army is a decision of the "wise leadership" of the communist state, and it can easily take years. East Timor also decided in 2020 to introduce military service for everyone between the ages of 18 and 30 for 18 months of service.
However, in most countries where women also have military service, it is a voluntary decision. This is also the case in the United States, where there are already about 200.000 female soldiers, which is about 14 percent of the total number of members of the armed forces. There, too, they can serve in combat units, and have done so since 1993.
Women are allowed to pursue a military career in virtually all other NATO members, as well as in South Korea, Bolivia and Japan. Japan, although theoretically, does not have an army, but rather a "Self-Defense Force", is increasingly just a paper decision from the time after its defeat in World War II.
Women in the war in Ukraine
In the biggest war currently ravaging Europe, there is no military service for either Ukrainian or Russian women. Despite this, there are more and more women on both sides. According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, there are currently 68.000 Ukrainian women in the armed forces there, 40 percent more than in 2021. However, they are still relatively few, considering that around 900.000 active-duty soldiers are participating in the defense of Ukraine.
And on the other side of the battle line, there are more and more women – that is, Russian women in uniform. Last October, the first all-female unit was formed, called the “Night Witches.” It is named after a famous Soviet aviation unit from World War II, but these “witches” are now flying drones in attacks in Ukraine.
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