Conscription for women

[Mambo19866]

I’ve just read what the head of Army has announced on DM that it’s likely conscription is to return if the conflict with Russia escalates. Reading up on it and asking some people who I believe are in the know they seem to think this might be first war where women will be expected to fight on the front line. I’m going to be honest this terrifies me is anyone else ready to die in a ditch in Russia somewhere? I thought these days were over but apparently even with atom bombs we still have to duke it out the old fashioned way.

Sweden abolished mandatory conscription in 2010. When it was reintroduced in 2017 (bcs of Russia) it was mandatory for both men and women. In reality, I understand that if you make it clear that you are not willing to be conscripted (exaggerating illness or weakness, raising ethical objections) then you will not be conscripted, at the end of the day it is difficult to train unwilling subjects.

Several Swedish politicians has raised the risk of war very recently, across party lines. In 2018 a pamphlet named "If the war comes" was sent to all Swedish households.

Not only the UK raising this subject.

No, equality is only wanted when it suits. As @Hatenewyear has alluded, you seem to think you can pick and choose when you want equality. Well, here's some news for you: it doesn't work like that.

I'm not sure about the argument around women being weaker than men. The more soldiers the better. Who's going to win in a fistfight if ten men fight against another ten men assisted by ten women? Numbers help, and women are perfectly capable of firing guns. Perhaps they'd need lighter backpacks but it's ludicrous to say that millions more soldiers wouldn't help.

And the male teenagers conscripted in the world wars wouldn't have been as strong as many of the fully grown men they were up against, and certainly not as mature. I'd wager that a well trained women in her 30s would probably be more capable of making tactical decisions than an 18yo boy.

Yes the only two bits of equality some want to get on board with are conscripting women to war and making sure women pay their way financially including women paying for their own maternity leave despite it not being an immaculate conception.

Meanwhile men are still not doing anywhere near 50% of housework and childcare. Yep equality IS only wanted when it suits

Men work longer hours and are far more likely to be employed in dangerous jobs like the fire service, construction, roofing, oil rigs, etc.

And the employment rate for men aged between 16 and 64 in the UK is around 80%, the rate for women is 72%. That might explain why some men don't do 50% of housework and childcare.

And those jobs are higher paid so why do we have women saving for their own maternity leave.

So glad i skipped all this shit as a child free by choice woman

Jobs that need lots of training, involve antisocial hours, require you to work outside in all conditions and carry a higher risk of death or injury get paid a bit more, crazy stuff.

Im not saying they shouldnt be paid more I was asking why some women are having to pay for their own maternity leave and all the stuff for the kids if that is the case so pack in the gaslighting

Exactly, but some like @JenniferBooth don't look at that, they just look at the bottom line without looking at all the factors.

Can you please point me to where i said they shouldnt be paid more.

I was originally answering why some men don't do 50% of housework and childcare.

I would hope everyone would refuse. They've spent the last how many years shitting on working and benefit class people and making everyone ashamed to be British and now they want everyone to be patriotic and fight for them. They can fuck right off.

THIS!

Sadly even female breadwinners tend to do more housework https://www.ucl.ac.uk/epidemiology-health-care/news/2019/nov/women-still-doing-most-housework-despite-earning-more

In many situations soldiers are safer from sexual violence (from the enemy) than civilians. Protecting soldiers (male and female) from sexual violence/harassment from fellow soldiers is a bigger concern (which means proper discipline, accountability etc). But you couldn't have wide scale conscription/volunteering of women without it.

I'm of the opinion that more women = less sexual harassment. They look out for one another. Having been the only woman on some bases the casual misogyny (and far worse) was rife. On more balanced bases (nowhere near close to 50%) there were far fewer issues.

This would raise so many questions.
Would women be compelled to be in the pill, for example, to try to lessen the impact of her periods.

I do a sport that requires heavy lifting of awkward shaped equipment and is a two person job. I need to lift in a way that protects my pelvic floor. I hate having to lift equipment up and down with a man. They're used to using their height and strength to just fling is about. They rush at it too fast as they don't have to accommodate for a lack of strength or height. If I lift it with a woman there's a lot more communication and a lot more care and I don't feel at risk of being hurt or injured.
There is a massive sex difference and I will stand back if two men can be lifting whereas I wouldn't if I was joining another women. I want to do it because I am competent and capable and strong, but it needs more thoughtfullness.

There are thousands of women in the military. Some choose to go on the pill / other BC (I did) to both regulate periods and prevent pregnancy, others don't. It's as individual a decision as it is in civilian life. There's no issue using tampons or sanitary towels - most of the time you are at a base that has full toilet facilities. Something like a diva cup could be trickier, don't know, never used one.

Some serving women I’ve known have been unable to travel to certain countries for tours due to hormonal medication needs such as HRT. I thought the pill was also classed as banned in some Middle Eastern countries? I may be wrong here.

I'm not sure about all countries but I know that birth control is legal in UAE, Saudi, Kuwait, Iraq, etc. I think these days the Taliban have banned BC in Afghanistan in another 'what else can we do to screw over women' move but I can't see that being at all relevant if troops were deployed there.

Not sure about HRT I'm afraid.

You'd have own supply chain for medicine.

No idea what nationalities' Forces can't do that, but it wouldn't apply to UK (or indeed any NATO member) all of whom routinely do that. It's pretty unusual to rely on local supplies unless well recce'd and assessed as robust and sufficient.

Thanks for responding @mpsw and @Emma8888 , I’ll try and find the report I read about it as I’m sure it said it was a barrier for women in defence but it was a while ago and I could’ve misinterpreted it, appreciate your response.

I'm opposed to the idea of conscription in general but in a time of extreme necessity it seems foolish to disqualify half your eligible recruitment pool due to outdated cultural norms.

You realise that equality isn't treating people the same don't you?

I was watching one of these 'back in time' series, the one that takes place on a high St.

When it gets to WWII they 'conscript' the men aged 18 - 41. But they said they would not send all of them to the front, so the butcher was sent to the catering corps.

Some men were not allowed to sign up, these included Doctors and farmers.

And as I have already said, women were conscripted.

As a country preparing for or involved in war there are things you need to do other than fight. You need food distribution, you need munitions. You need to ensure children are cared for. You need communications.