The idea of a man rescuing a woman has always been present in classic works such as Jane Austen’s “Pride And Prejudice” and William Shakespeare’s “Romeo And Juliet,” where men frequently come to the aid of women. Throughout the years women have been achieving emancipation, gender equality, independence and freedom. Yet, various stereotypes such as a woman being weak still prevail in society. Due to this, the notion of women stepping out of their traditional roles and joining male-dominated fields like the army still invokes some disbelief and is seen as an idiotic idea by many people.
Fight Like A Girl: The challenges that Swiss women faced to be able to serve in the military
Swiss women had to face many challenges to obtain the right to serve in the military. In contrast to various feminist movements that emerged not only in America but also in European society, the Swiss feminist movement was significantly behind. Seeing as American, French and Belgian women were performing important roles in the military of their countries in Civil Wars and World War One. In 1940, the first step towards women joining the army was taken, leading to the creation of an assistance service for women who intended to join the army. However, it took until 2001 before all military functions were accessible to women, including combat missions and full weaponry.
Key Fact: In terms of gender equality in marriage and women’s right to vote, Switzerland was one of the last countries in Europe to introduce reforms regarding these issues.
The number of women in the Swiss army is higher than ever
In the last few years, the Swiss Federal Council and the Swiss Army have introduced various campaigns to encourage women to join the army (in Switzerland military service is only compulsory for men). Now, it seems to be bearing fruits seeing as the number of female recruits has risen significantly over the past year. According to the speaker of the Swiss Army, never before were so many women recruited. A total of 727 women showed interest in joining the recruit school in 2021. 546 of them were assigned a function in the army after conscription. That is 63.2 percent more than in 2020. Another 122 women were assigned to civil defence and the Red Cross service. Notable is also the fact that 98 women were recommended for peacebuilding missions. By looking at the data, it has become clear that the suitability of women is like that of men at around 81 percent.
Mandatory military service for women.
Because of these positive results for the Swiss Army, the question of a possible mandatory military service for women arose among many members of the Swiss Federal Council, especially seeing as Europe is facing the threat of a probable war.
Last summer, the Federal Supreme Court (Switzerland’s highest court) ruled that military conscription for men was a contradiction to the principle of non-discrimination. The court, however, left the precarious dilemma of addressing this contradiction to the government.
The Swiss journals state that there are two ways of achieving gender equality. On one hand, the extension of conscription to women, which has been the subject of controversy several times in the past. On the other hand, the abolishment of it altogether. In 2013, a referendum showed that 73% of the voters were against the abolition of compulsory military service for men.
Thereby, most of the members of the Federal Council believe that the idea of implementing mandatory military service for women is still premature seeing as the number of female recruits has been increasing thanks to the various campaigns that have been introduced.
Mighty women in camouflage suits!
Due to the above-mentioned facts, it can be deduced that compulsory military service for women will not be introduced in Switzerland now. However, this may not be true in the case that a war begins and Switzerland decides not to stay neutral.
Filipa Moreira
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