Talk:Conscription
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The map looks old. Because Afghanistan reintroduced conscription after Taliban took over the country 3 years ago.Aminabzz (talk)13:03, 24 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The map at the top of the article cannot be understood by all people with color blindness. Here is a recommended change which I don't know how to make. I personally don't have color blindness – the recommendation of green, orange, and purple comes from here.https://colorbrewer2.org/#type=qualitative&scheme=Dark2&n=3
Black = No armed forcesGreen = Conscription, but not active / enforcedOrange = Active and enforced conscription, but not for all citizensPurple = Active and enforced conscription for all citizensGray = No information
The green, orange, and purple each need to be saturated enough they cannot be mistaken for the white background. The gray has an additional requirement – not dark enough it could be mistaken for black.108.20.199.76 (talk)14:00, 17 February 2025 (UTC)[reply]
The section "Drafting of women" needs to be expanded with arguments for and against conscription of women (similarly to the arguments for and against conscription in general, which are detailed in other sections of the article). The section also states"In recent years, this position [not conscripting women] has been challenged on the basis that it violatesgender equality, and some countries have extended conscription obligations to women." This doesn't seem correct at a global level; if one looks at the countries which currently conscript women, they aren't exactly beacons of gender equality or of human rights, as a matter of fact. Most countries which conscript women are autocratic regimes, chief among themNorth Korea, or otherwise countries with a very poor human rights record (which somehow seem to have discovered the concept of equality between women and men when it comes to conscription into the military - I mean one can hardly claim thatEritrea is an enlightened country when it comes to women rights, given that, among other things, not only thatfemale genital mutilation (FGM) is almost universal there, but Eritrea is one of the countries with the highest prevalence ofinfibulation, the most extreme form of FGM, which causes serious health problems to women. The only truly democratic countries (ie. countries accepted universally as being democratic and with good human rights records) which conscript women are the Scandinavian countries (where there is selective conscription, meaning that in practice only/mostly motivated volunteers serve).
The section should expand on arguments related to biological differences (including different strength, proneness to injury and physical damage etc, but also reproductive differences), additional risks for women (sexual violence), ethical concerns (ie. is it ethical that the state demands that women risk their health and life in combat when they already do so through pregnancy and childbirth, so conscription creates a 'double burden'; is it ethical for a state to implement 'equality' with regard to conscription when it does not offer women equality in civilian life), social concerns (women being primary caregivers to children, elderly and disabled), potential effects on male-female relations in civilian life (ie. when women are conscripted and are perceived as 'fit to fight men' does this increase maleviolence against women in civilian life). Last but not least, do women have the same ability to kill as men, since, after all, war is about killing. In civilian life, the vast majority of homicides are committed by men (according toUNODC, at a global level, 90% of homicide suspects brought into formal contact with the police are men[1]). Not only this, but men and women who kill in civilian life do so in different circumstances, for different reasons and in a different manner. This source[2] argues that"[...] It should not be surprising that men, not women, have evolved bodies and minds designed to kill. We propose that men have evolved some homicidal mechanisms that women lack, such as those designed for warfare [...]"
Since conscription of women is a major and controversial topic when designing conscription frameworks and, generally, when discussing the topic of conscription, the article should elaborate more on matters related to it.2A02:2F0F:B302:2700:BC6D:BCF7:DB95:CA38 (talk)03:43, 12 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Another potential issue with the map concerns the Netherlands. Although the country technically still has conscription, and all citizens receive a notice at the age of 17, they are not required to present themselves for service. It is therefore unclear which category this should fall under, but it certainly should not be blue, which implies that the country has no form of conscription at all.After Vasari (talk)10:54, 14 January 2026 (UTC)[reply]
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