The Norwegian parliament has voted in a strong majority on a bill to extending mandatory military service to females
If the bill is enacted, all medically fit women born in Norway from 1997 onwards will have to serve at least 19 months of mandatory duty in the armed forces. Women will also be subject to conscription during wartime.
Report by RT:- The Norwegian parliament has voted in a strong majority on a bill aimed at extending mandatory military service to females. If the legislation is approved, all women in the country will be subject to the same conscription conditions as men.
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The proposition, which was first announced in June 2013, was passed in Oslo this week, with 96 parliamentarians voting in favor of gender equality in the army. Only six voted against it.
“We do not really need more conscripts but we wish to extend military service to the entire age group to attract more motivated and more competent recruits,” Norwegian Minister of Defense Ine Eriksen Soreide said.
If the bill is enacted, all medically fit women between 19 and 44 years old will have to serve at least 19 months of mandatory duty in the armed forces. It will apply to women born in Norway from 1997 onwards, with the first service in the summer of 2016. Women will also be subject to conscription during wartime.
Currently, women constitute just above 10 percent of military conscripts in Norway, serving in the armed forces on a volunteer basis. The initiative of compulsory military service for all citizens regardless of gender makes Norway the first European country to make such a decision in peacetime.
Outside Europe, military service is mandatory for both men and women in Israel.
Before mandatory military service for women is written into law, the proposition must be approved in the second reading. Voting is due to take place later this term.
Niamh Harris
population reduction action.