The Ombudsman for Equality no longer considers the different requirements for the appearance of women and men in the Finnish Defence Forces and Finnish Border Guard to be justified (TAS 332/2023, issued on 10 October 2023)

The Ombudsman for Equality is regularly requested to comment on men's appearance requirements in military service and military office. The Ombudsman for Equality undertook to investigate the matter, as it is important to review regularly in light of social developments. The matter was previously examined in 2006.

General Service Regulations

The General Service Regulations published in 2017 include provisions on a soldier's appearance. According to the regulations, men must have short, neat and combed hair. Beards and moustaches are not allowed and the face must be clean shaven. There are no restrictions on the length of women's hair. Long hair may not be worn loose while on duty, however.

Reports of the Finnish Border Guard and Finnish Defence Forces

The Ombudsman for Equality requested a report on the matter from the Finnish Border Guard and Finnish Defence Forces.

According to the Finnish Border Guard, it is lawful and justified that soldiers be treated equally regardless of whether they are serving in the Finnish Defence Forces or the Border Guard. The Finnish Border Guard considers that it cannot derogate from the General Service Regulations. The Finnish Defence Forces are responsible for the development of the General Service Regulations.

According to the Finnish Defence Forces, the current regulations have been considered to promote gender equality by encouraging women to enter voluntary military service. However, Defence Command does not see any obstacles related to training or safety to the harmonisation of current regulations. Such harmonisation would have a positive impact on gender equality and men's motivation to serve. The need to update the General Service Regulations has been recognised. The update will begin in 2024, and any changes will be made then.

There are no grounds for different treatment based on gender under the Equality Act

The Act on Equality between Women and Men (Equality Act) prohibits discrimination based on gender, gender identity and gender expression and obliges the authorities to promote equality between the genders in a purposeful and systematic manner.

The Ombudsman for Equality has previously considered that the provisions of the General Service Regulations do not place men in a sufficiently disadvantaged position compared to women to constitute discrimination prohibited under the Equality Act. However, general opinion on the appearance of soldiers and the genders has changed in Finnish society.

The Ombudsman for Equality refers to the prohibitions of discrimination and the authorities' obligation to promote equality between the genders provided for in the Equality Act, as well as Defence Command's own statement according to which it does not see any obstacles to the harmonisation of regulations. Based on the above, the Ombudsman for Equality finds that treating men and women differently in terms of appearance requirements can no longer be justified as required by the Equality Act. Instead, the Ombudsman for Equality finds that the demands of a soldier's duties could be justifiably taken into account in their appearance requirements.

The Ombudsman for Equality welcomes the fact that Defence Command has recognised the need to update the General Service Regulations and commends Defence Command's announcement of its intentions to amend the regulations so that the genders will be treated equally in connection with a larger update of the General Service Regulations. The Ombudsman for Equality has requested Defence Command to deliver the updated regulations to the Ombudsman.
 

11.10.2023