In a recent Iltalehti piece a Finnish woman named Saija says that fellow conscripts and corporals repeatedly bullied and harassed her while she was completing voluntary military service. The harassment reportedly consisted primarily of degrading and inappropriate language rather than physical violence. During one particularly distressing incident at a field camp, she was surrounded by […]

Around 40 percent of women completing voluntary military service in Finland report inappropriate treatment during service, according to end-of-service questionnaires obtained by the Finnish Broadcasting Company. The most common problems are bullying and sexual harassment; although sexual harassment has fallen from more than half of women ten years ago to under one quarter now, women […]

In a column for Lapin Kansa, Saaga Vanhamäki argues that Finnish conscripts still too often fail to show basic respect toward women who volunteer for military service. She frames the issue against Finland’s security situation, shrinking conscript age cohorts, and rising service interruptions, arguing that women’s willingness to serve should carry more weight, not less, […]