– Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced mandatory military training for adult men. Do you think women should have the same work or are there reasonable differences?
– I believe that women should besides undergo military training. We can find ourselves in a situation where these skills will prove essential – not only with the usage of weapons, but besides with the first aid, the handling of haemorrhages and the handling of war wounds, which are frequently very extended and require a different treatment than those that happen to us all day, or with the way we behave during evacuation. It is no secret that 1 of war crimes is rape, so women should know the basics of self-defense. Without training, that's impossible. Given our geopolitical situation and the fact that Americans have begun to extinguish aid to Ukraine overnight, the ability to usage weapons ceases to be fanaticism and may be a necessity. I'm not saying that all female will gotta usage it, but we should have that cognition just in case. Even in advanced school, about 30 years ago, I had a defensive appearance – I learned to shoot (I besides happen to go to the shooting scope today), put on a gas mask, treat wounds. I inactive remember how to bandage an eye. It would be good if the younger generation had a akin opportunity.
– Could specified an obligation, if it were for both women and men, truly affect the position of women in Poland and contribute to the fight against the patriarch?
– I think so. This can be seen from the example of Ukraine – according to statistic about 25 percent of the Ukrainian army are women. And we're not just talking about logistics or medical support – women fight on the front, they're in trenches, they're doing intelligence. any of my lawyers I met at competitions present service in the military – any aid behind the front line, others are straight in the fighting zone. It's besides a way to break the stereotypical reasoning about the function of women. Interestingly, it is frequently conservatives who talk loudly about the patriotism and heroism of Warsaw insurgents, who now declare in social media that they will be the first to pack and leave in the event of war. I'm not going anywhere.
– The military, even in the most progressive countries, frequently struggles with sexual harassment and force against women. Is the Polish army ready for mass inclusion of women without the hazard of replicating these problems?
– The problem of harassment is not unique to the military, it occurs in all sphere of working life: whether in corporations, in police or in another structures. So it is not the military itself that is crucial, but effective enforcement and protection of victims. Indeed, there are greater taboos in the army and opposition to "reporting on colleagues", making it hard to respond to abuse. A good example is the past of the “Say Stop” Foundation, founded by Polish soldiers who experienced harassment at work and who supported another people in this situation. 2 years ago, the organization suspended operations, and her members were being watched by Pegasus. This shows that the Polish army inactive lacks real protection for women who experience force or discrimination.
– In Israel, where military service is compulsory for women, many postpone the decision on motherhood. Do you think that the introduction of akin regulations in Poland could aggravate the demographic crisis?
– I don't think so. The demographic crisis in Poland is mainly due to the restrictive abortion law, the deficiency of places in nurseries and insufficient support for families with children, whose state aid continues to replace mainly "grandmother". It is besides noteworthy that military service is not the only profession that requires sacrifices. The demographic crisis is simply a structural problem and should be addressed independently of the issue of compulsory military training for women.
