Norway Extends Conscription To Women

[jimmy olsen]

HOT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-14/norway-closes-gender-gap-as-women-military-draft-starts.html

Norway Closes Gender Gap as Women Military Draft Starts
By Saleha Mohsin Oct 14, 2014 8:46 PM GMT+0900

Norway is going one step further with gender equality with a historic bill passed today aimed at closing the gap between men and women in the nation's army.

A new law will require women between the ages of 19 to 44 to join men in 19 months of mandatory military duty. It will apply to women born in Norway from 1997 onwards, with the first service in mid-2016.

"The most suitable and most motivated will join the service, regardless of gender," Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a statement. Women make up less than 13 percent of the Norwegian Armed Forces, according to the government.

Norway is a world-leader when it comes to women in the work force. The nation has the fourth highest female participation rate at 76.1 percent, after Iceland, Sweden and Switzerland, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Norway's prime minister, finance minister and leaders of the largest labor union and biggest employer group are all women.

"The fundamental value in Norwegian society is that rights and duties are independent of gender," according to the government's proposal to require women to serve in the military.

Yet Norway's corporate sphere remains a man's world as more women work in the public sector. The number of women working in that area was 71 percent in 2011, compared with 37 percent in the private sector, according to the latest data available from Statistics Norway.

[Viking]

Given that you have to go out of you way to actually get yourself drafted this won't do much. Women already can volunteer and they do. This is a symbolic act rather than a significant one. But the principle is good I agree. But, given that your Prime Minister, Finance Minister and Defense Minister are all women, I'm not surprised.

[Monoriu]

Why do they need conscription in the first place?

[Tonitrus]

Why do they need conscription in the first place?

Sweden is dangerous.

And they border Russia.

[CountDeMoney]

Let loose the sugartits of war.

[Viking]

Why do they need conscription in the first place?

In a sense conscription is considered a right rather than a duty by a substantial part of the population. One part of the national trauma related to the german invasion as the germans were dis-embarking down at the port norwegians were rushing to their mustering place in case of mobilization on their own initiative. The mobilization summonses were being sent out by mail, and the process was expected to take three days and in many cases the volunteers were turned away by the officers at the military bases. So at least for the generations concious of the war national service has been seen as a citizens right as much as a duty.

Because of this the Norwegian Military has been exceptionally slow at reforming this

[Admiral Yi]

Have you ever heard the one about the Norwegian computer virus Puff?

[Viking]

Have you ever heard the one about the Norwegian computer virus Puff?

It auto-quarantines itself. How am I supposed to send the email on to all my friends if I format my hard drive?

[Admiral Yi]

Good point.