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Conscription law changes should not trap women, justice expert says
Changing conscription laws to allow governments to not only force their citizens into war but to include women in the ranks is the wrong move, an international law expert has warned.
Naomi Neilson
With more countries around the world changing their conscription laws to include women, Griffith Law School’s associate professor Olivera Simic said it was possible Australia may do the same.
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To do so would mean reversing a 1972 decision to abolish conscription using a provision in the Defence Act 1903 and several government hoops, including approval by the Parliament.
But it is not an entirely far-fetched possibility.
“With war mongering, increasing threats of new wars globally and skyrocketing military spending, we could see conscription mandatory in Australia as we saw in Western democracies recently, such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden,” Simic predicted.
In the same vein, Simic said there are already debates on various platforms about whether women will be included in the change.
“[Governments] are desperate to include women, not because they necessarily think women have the same capabilities or skills as men, but simply because they need to increase the number of people ready to be deployed to fight or provide assistance in war zones,” Simic said.
Simic said while some governments may view this as a “sign of gender equality”, it is not a “win” for women.
“Gender equality is about ending violence, not bringing women to perpetuate violence as actors and fights,” Simic said.
This, Simic added, is entirely different when women are choosing to fight, rather than being forced under any law changes.
But in both instances, Simic said research has shown women experience high rates of sexual harassment and abuse by male colleagues “and many of them are afraid of speaking out”.
“I respect women who want to join the army out of their own will but to force them into militarised structures against their will is obviously going to put strain on their lives,” Simic said.
Simic also predicted there will be a lot of pushback from all young people caught in the conscription law change.
She said this is evident in the unsuccessful strategies employed by the Defence Department to recruit more people.
“I don’t think either young males or females are that interested in serving in the armed forces and we can see that from ongoing and increasing calls and moves on behalf of the Defence Department to lure young people into the army by promising free education, professional training, etc,” Simic said.
“I don’t think they have been successful in this.”
