The past Friday June 14th the Norwegian parliament approved by a large majority of votes a new law to establish compulsory military service for women.
So far in this Nordic country women could enter the military service on a voluntary basis, being the aim of this new measure to double the number of women enrolled until the end of this decade. At this moment 10% of Norwegian military members are women.
Norway is the first NATO member to adopt this measure with the aim of being the pioneers in the field of gender equality. So far the female population has had an advantage over the traditional military responsibilities of the Norwegian male population, and the new law seeks to balance this mismatch with this social and economic measure, using the term “neutral military in matters of gender.”
The Norwegian Foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said he was “proud of Norway being the first country in the world to introduce a neutral mandatory military service in matters of gender.”
The Norwegian defense department estimates that the new law will take practical effect in 2015. The minister Barth Eide believes that the compulsory incorporation of the women will not only benefit the military in a symbolic sense: “A modern army requires a lot more than brawn. Of course we need many other requirements than the traditional ones … if one is to have true gender equality, both genders should have rights and duties. “
