Name: Why Europe is asking women to get ready to fight Russia - BBC World Service
Uploaded: 2025-11-24T12:25:41.000Z
Duration: 7 min 37 s
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Participle clauses

As tensions with Russia rise, some countries are turning to conscription, requiring citizens to complete a period of military service.

Adverbs of manner

During the world wars, only men could be forced to go to the front line.

It's a big step to take because it's a way of saying this threat that we're facing is so important that everyone has to play their part and everyone includes women.

It's created debate about who should serve in, like the situation that the world is in now.

I think it's only fair and right that women participate equally as with the men.

I do not want to die, I do not want ptsd.

And also I'm scared about like life in the battlefield as a woman.

So why is Europe rebuilding its armies now and is there support for sending women to war?

For as long as there have been wars, there are records of men being forced to fight them.

The modern concept of conscription began during the French Revolution when all men aged 18 to 25 had to report for duty.

Other nations followed France's model in the 19th century, and in the world wars, millions were conscripted.

Following the budget comes news of conscription.

Women were drafted too, working on farms, in factories and in hospitals.

Some served in the military, but they weren't sent to the front line.

Those that did go, like one of the Soviet Union's top scouts, snipers Lyudmila Pavlichenko, nicknamed Lady Death, were volunteers participate in Europe's first simulated atomic military maneuvers.

Across Europe, conscription policies were kept until the end of the Cold War, when hopes of lasting peace led many countries to phase it out.

The fall of the Berlin Wall and there was a broad restructuring in a lot of European countries that happened of our militaries.

Defense spending shrank, militaries shrank with them.

But some countries never suspended conscription.

With Russia and several former USSR states also retaining forms of Soviet era military service.

Those are mostly countries that are close to some sort of territorial threat, whether that is Greece and Turkey, or whether that is the countries that are bordering Russia.

In Norway, military service has always been mandatory for men as part of its constitution.

But in 2013, the country voted to extend it to women, saying there should be equal rights and obligations.

You have access to parts of the population that men don't, for instance, in intelligence gathering, to be able to communicate with the female part of the society in parts of the world that we do operations.

Public support for conscription in Norway is strong and more people want to do it than are currently needed.

The Princess of Norway recently concluded her service as a conscript.

Typically, service lasts around a year, and

former conscripts can be called back to the army for the next 26 years if needed.

Following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine and Lithuania reinstated compulsory military service for men.

Sweden did too in 2017, this time including women.

Countries that have introduced conscription for women in Europe have tended to be Northern European countries, which are not only closer to Russia, but

they're also countries that have valued gender equality very highly.

Russia's 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine further highlighted the need for European countries to grow their armies.

This has turned into a war of attrition, where Ukraine has struggled to recruit enough troops to match Russia's rate of mobilization.

And European leaders in frontline states have now warned that NATO could soon find itself at war with Russia.

Since Russia's invasion, these countries have made plans to bring back compulsory service for men, while these in blue rolling out new voluntary military training programs.

Denmark has also said it would extend its draft from four to 11 months and that women would have to serve too.

Fears President Donald Trump might withdraw US funding from NATO unless European partners step up defence spending have also driven a recruitment effort.

If they don't pay, I'm not going to defend them.

The reason why we are now reintroducing conscription is because of a greater threat from Russia, but

also greater uncertainty as to whether we can still rely on the US security guarantee.

In most countries, people can refuse the military draft and opt for civilian service instead.

But failing to reply to a call up can lead to fines or even arrest.

Denmark says it currently has enough volunteers to fill its ranks.

And across the Nordic states, public support for female conscription is strong.

But in other countries bordering Russia, like Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, it's much lower.

Despite this, some politicians, like Latvian Defence Minister Andriy Sprudz, say women are needed because we live next to aggressive country, because we need to strongly increase our comprehensive defence Women, the gender neutral approach.

This is crucial in general, this is principle which strengthens our defence and our security of our people within specific nations, but

At the moment, these calls are just proposals, but

a falling birth rate could make the situation more urgent.

The problem will arrive about 2040 because birth cohorts of the past two or three years have been so low that if we are still in the same security situation, then we will just.

Gender equal conscription will mean armies need to make provisions for uniform and weaponry, which are largely designed for men.

And there are fears about women operating in male dominated environments.

Increasingly, we're seeing examples coming from European countries where women soldiers are very vulnerable to sexual harassment, abuse, assault.

And militaries have struggled to understand how to deal with this.

But countries hope that despite the challenges, increasing defenses like this will prevent future, future Russian aggression.

The promise of conscription remains really powerful because it offers a path to building up military reserves, which a big factor in deterrence.