Estonia looks to Sweden for women’s national defense recruitment model | News
Although Estonian society is not currently in favor of introducing compulsory military service for women, this may change as the proportion of women in national defense increases.
60 women joined the military in Estonia last year, about two percent of the total number of recruits.
In Lithuania and Finland, four percent of those who do military service are women, says Eleri Lillemäe, sociologist and analyst at the Estonian Defense Academy. In Norway and Sweden, the proportion of women among the recruits is much higher, between 20-25 percent, with Lillemäe explaining that there are two main reasons behind this.
First and foremost, demographics have made these changes necessary. In the aging societies of the developed countries, there are simply not enough young men available to make up the required number.
But the other very important change, especially when it comes to Norway and Sweden, is that both have been very strong towards achieving gender equality.
– The main argument there is no longer that there is a need to increase the number of conscripts at the expense of women, but that women should have exactly the same rights and obligations as men, Lillemäe said. “That’s why they have made recruitment gender neutral.”
Although conscription in Norway and Sweden is compulsory for women, the recruitment process there is also different from that in Estonia.
Sweden has an annual selection pool of 100,000 young people, from whom it is called between 4,000 and 5,000 each year. “(Estonia’s) selection pool is 10,000, from which we call in 3,000 to 4,000. The selection mechanism there is so much stronger. They can take highly motivated men and women “, said Lillemäe.
For women in Estonia, military service is voluntary and includes a 90-day period during which they can opt out. Opinion polls among recruits confirm that women otherwise serve on equal terms with men.
Women have been able to join military service in Estonia since 2013, and 15 did so at the first opportunity they asked.
As the total number of people completing military service will increase, so will the number of women involved. However, according to Deputy Director General Anu Rannaveski, the Swedish Defense Resources Authority has not set specific goals for the recruitment of women.
“We want to reach as many young women and girls as possible, so that they choose the conscription path. We have pretty good practice in (providing national defense training. About 6,000 students go through (the process) every year, half of them women. It shows that girls are interested in the national defense, says Rannaveski.
The current system, in which women participate in national defense on a completely voluntary basis, is supported by about 80 percent of Estonian society, while only about five percent is for compulsory national service for women.
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