The issue of women and conscription

As global tensions ratchet up defensive preparations, countries are beginning to reconsider whether conscripting only men into their armed forces will be enough. 

Ukraine should get rid of its "old-fashioned mentality" and start conscripting women into the army, the country's military adviser on gender issues has said. 

There are already about 65,000 women serving as volunteers in Ukraine's armed forces – an increase of about 40% on the year before Russia's invasion, but that represents a smaller percentage (7.3%) of female participation than most Nato states. But in the face of increasing Russian bombardment, dwindling supplies and heavy Ukrainian losses, "it is only right that women serve too", Oksana Grigorieva told The Times. 

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Last month Denmark announced plans to become the 10th country to extend military conscription to women, in response to Russia's growing aggression on Nato's eastern front. "We do not rearm because we want war. We are rearming because we want to avoid it," said Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen. The government wants "full equality between the sexes", she added. 

What are attitudes towards conscripting women?

Military conscription, commonly known as the draft, means the government requires citizens to serve in the armed forces for a set period of time. 

Throughout history, conscription has predominantly targeted men, reflecting traditional gender roles, perceptions of physical strength and military duty. This has often excluded women, though they serve voluntarily in many armed forces around the world.

But as preoccupation grows with both gender equality and global insecurity, the picture is changing. The vast majority of the UK public (72%) now believe that women should be conscripted in the event of a draft, according to the latest YouGov poll in January. About 42% of respondents thought women should serve on the same basis as men, while 30% thought there should be some restrictions on the roles women could perform. 

Ira Shevchenko, who has volunteered in the Ukrainian military since 2021, told The Times that women should be conscripted on the grounds of gender equality. "Equal rights goes hand-in-hand with equal responsibilities," she said.

The US does not have mandatory military conscription for either men or women in peacetime. It does, however, require men to register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of turning 18, in case conscription is brought back.

Efforts to include women in this have been gaining traction in recent years, since the Defense Department opened up all military roles to women. Men's rights group have challenged the male-only military registration, and in 2019 a Texas federal judge ruled that it was unconstitutional.

Where are women conscripted?

In Ukraine, "an indication of a possible female draft" came last October, said The Times, when women with medical degrees were required to register with recruitment offices. 

"Our northern neighbour isn’t simply going to disappear," said Grigorieva. "For hundreds of years they have repeatedly attacked us. Like Israel, we have to be prepared for this and that means training up both men and women to be ready for war."

In Israel, female conscription has been in place since the country was established in 1948. All 18-year-olds must serve for up to two years, and about 40% of those drafted are women.

Danish women could already volunteer for military service, and in 2023 they made up about a quarter of the armed forces, according to Politico. But Denmark's defence department said it was forced to rethink its conscription model amid growing concerns over Russian aggression and Europe's lack of preparation. 

"Unfortunately, the security policy situation in Europe has become more and more serious," said defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen. A more robust conscription system is "absolutely crucial", The Guardian reported.

Denmark was the third European country in Europe to introduce female conscription, after Norway in 2015 and Sweden in 2017 – also over security concerns. But Norway and Sweden are still the only two countries in the world where men and women are conscripted under the same formal conditions.

North Korea has the longest mandatory female military involvement in the world, although not all women are conscripted. It is believed to have introduced mandatory service for women between the ages of 17 and 20, until the age of 23, in 2015. Some estimate that the active-duty North Korean military is 30% women, South Korean General I-B Chun said in a speech at Policy Exchange in 2018.