Only four percent of all respondents said that military conscription should be obligatory for ladies. Currently, only male citizens are obligated to serve in the military, while women have the option to enlist voluntarily, a situation many see as not gender equal enough.
About 65 percent of respondents are against including women into Finland's conscription system and would like it to remain unchanged, a survey carried out by pollster Taloustutkimus on behalf of national broadcaster Yle found.
About 28 percent of respondents said they would prefer a conscription scheme where women would also have to serve in some kind of civilian capacity. Only four percent of all respondents said that conscription service should also be obligatory for young women.
It turned out that younger people are slightly more open to the idea. About 41 percent of respondents between 15-24 years of age said they supported obligatory civilian service for women. Still, only eight percent of the younger age cohort said female conscription should be mandatory.
Currently, only young male citizens are obligated to serve in the military, while women have the option to enlist voluntarily.
Taloustutkimus research chief Juho Rahkonen was astonished by the low support for female conscription.
“This has been a blind spot in the equality debate. It's said that there should not be any career exclusively meant for men or women in Finland. Still, many still believe that war is a man's job. It is accepted in…
