Senior Finnish military officer calls for gender-neutral national service amid demographic decline

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - A senior Finnish military officer has called for a shift toward a gender-neutral national service system, arguing that Finland’s armed forces can no longer afford to base conscription on gender as security risks rise and birth rates fall.

Annukka Ylivaara, one of the highest-ranking women in Finland’s military, said on Thursday broader inclusion would strengthen society’s overall willingness to defend the country.

“The more people you involve in military service, the more acceptable it becomes overall, because it involves both genders,” Ylivaara told Yle News.

Finland currently operates a system of compulsory military service for men, while women may volunteer.

According to the Finnish Defense Forces (FDF), universal conscription remains the only economically viable way to maintain sufficient personnel for national defense.

Ylivaara, who previously commanded the Uusimaa Jaeger Battalion in Helsinki, said modern armed forces should focus on capability rather than gender.

She said physical and load-carrying standards are now the same for men and women, unlike when voluntary service for women was introduced in the mid-1990s.

Women currently make up about 4% of Finland’s annual conscripts, roughly 1,000 individuals. After completing service, they join the reserve on the same terms as men.

The debate comes as Finland marks 30 years since women were first admitted into military service in 1995, a reform championed at the time by then-Defense Minister Elisabeth Rehn. The armed forces were fully opened to women across all branches in 1997.

In recent years, mixed-gender barracks have become common across Finnish garrisons. Still, questions remain over infrastructure costs should participation expand significantly.

Demographic pressures are now adding urgency to the discussion, Janne Jaakkola, commander of the FDF, warned this month that shrinking male age cohorts are beginning to affect military readiness.

“If the male age group shrinks as much as projected, I do not really see where else the numbers can come from except women,” Jaakkola said.

Finland’s defense strategy relies on a wartime reserve of 280,000 troops, requiring a steady flow of trained conscripts each year.

Efforts to attract more women, however, have been complicated by reports of harassment in some units. Daily Helsingin Sanomat has reported cases of female conscripts being subjected to sexualized name-calling. Jaakkola said the military maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward such behavior.

Ylivaara said the discussion should go beyond the military alone, suggesting a broader, gender-neutral national service model that includes both military and civilian options.

“In the context of comprehensive security, everyone should be required to participate,” she said, pointing to an increasingly unpredictable security environment in Europe.