GENEVA: Swiss voters are casting ballots to decide whether women, like men, must do national service in the military, civil protection teams or in other forms.
Supporters of the “citizen service initiative” in the referendum ending Sunday hope it will boost social cohesion by adding jobs in areas like environmental prevention, food security and elderly care.
Parliament overwhelmingly opposes the idea, mainly for cost reasons and out of concern that it could crimp the economy by taking tens of thousands of young people out of the workforce.
While initial polls suggested a tight contest, a more recent survey showed the initiative was on track to fail.
The vote gives an indication of how a European populace views mandatory national duty, at a time when there are worries about the possible spillover of Russia’s war in Ukraine and other potential disruptions.
“Clouds are gathering in the skies of a fragmenting Switzerland. On one hand, there are landslides in the mountains, floods in the plains, cyberattacks, risks of energy shortages or war in Europe. On the other, individualism is growing, and solitude and tensions are growing,” the campaigners argued.
“By proposing a national service for all young people, the initiative responds to exactly what we need: that everybody takes responsibility to work for a stronger Switzerland that’s able to stand up to crises,” they added.
The government countered that the army and civil defense have enough staff to begin with and no more people should be recruited than are needed.
While compulsory military service for women might be seen as “a step toward gender equality,” the government added, the idea would “place an extra burden on many women, who already shoulder a large part of the unpaid work of raising and caring for children and relatives, as well as household tasks.”
“Because equality in the workplace and in society is still not a reality, requiring women to perform civic service would not constitute progress in terms of equality,” it said.
Young men in Switzerland are already required to carry out military service or join civil protection teams. Conscientious objectors can do other types of service, and those who opt out entirely must pay an exemption fee.
The initiative would require all Swiss citizens to do national service — women can currently do so on a voluntary basis — and apply the concept of national security to areas beyond military service or civil protection.
Each year, about 35,000 men take part in mandatory service, at a cost of nearly 1 billion Swiss francs (about $1.25 billion) in terms of government allocations and insurance. Approval of the measure would roughly double both headcount and cost.
The measure would also give parliament the option to require foreigners living in Switzerland to do public service, too.