A cross-party parliamentary committee has recommended military call-ups be extended to include women in Finland. Mandatory military service would, however, be limited to males only.
Eekku Aromaa, Secretary General at Feminist Association Unioni, told Iltalehti that a shift towards gender neutrality on the issue was a move in the right direction.
"But it should be on a voluntary basis, and not force militarisation on women," she said.
Aromaa said many young people today don't feel Finland's male-only conscription system is fair.
"The current system maintains a level of unfairness in society that targets both men and women. For men it means an obligation that women don't have. It preserves a gender system in which men are able, can and must do things," she explained.
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Vaxxed but unwanted
British journalist Luke Harding had no trouble arriving in Helsinki last week after showing proof of two AstraZeneca Covid shots, but he was turned away from a downtown bar after the bouncer's Covid reader app did not recognise his proof of vaccination, reports Helsingin Sanomat.
"It felt a bit like when you're a kid in school and nobody picks you for their team in gym class," Harding said of being left behind.
So far, 18 non-EU countries, including the UK, have joined the EU Digital Covid Certificate system.
Mika Pihlajamäki, an information architect at public health institute THL, told HS the problem was due to the digital formating of some of the older vaccination certificates, whereas Jari Suhonen at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health said UK Covid passes were not fully integrated into the EU-wide system until 1 November.
"There are third countries whose Covid passports are accepted at the border but who aren't a part of the EU certificate network. In practice that means THL's Covid pass reader app isn't able to recognise these certificates," Suhonen added.
Protecting pollinators
Finland is planning its first national strategy to protect the country's pollinators, according to Hufvudstadsbladet.
The Swedish-language daily notes Finland has become increasingly concerned about the long-term survival of its bees.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry noted that pollinator populations have diminished to a worrying degree in many parts of the world. The decline can have serious consequences on ecosystem functionality, and ultimately, food production.