The Finnish Parliamentary Ombudsman has criticized the Defense Forces for using discriminatory training material in connection with fitness checks for new conscripts.
The Army Medical Center, responsible for the health of conscripts and defense personnel, was singled out in the Ombudsman’s report.
According to the office, sexual orientation, particularly homosexuality, was seen as an obstacle to conscription in educational material.
The material referred to demanding terms of service and community housing and stated that a conscript must be made to understand that because of their sexual orientation, they should have doubts about their ability to perform the service.
Instead, it recommended the Class C class it was considering for fitness checks.
Class C conscripts, such as those with mental health problems, have been released from peacetime military service.
The Defense Command, which conducts the performance of the duties assigned to the Defense Forces, stated to the Parliamentary Ombudsman that the military does not consider sexual orientation to be a disorder, nor is it a criterion for classification in Class C.
According to the military, fitness assessments are always an extensive assessment of a conscript’s health.
However, the Ombudsman noted that the training material could have given the impression to the health professionals involved in the training that sexual orientation was an obstacle to military service. Therefore, according to the Ombudsman’s judgment, the material was offensive and discriminatory.
At the turn of last year, the Defense Forces removed parts of the training material that were considered discriminatory.
Source: The Nordic Page