EDITORIAL: Female army stats based on choice

Just when most of us thought the battle of the sexes had been won, there was muttering this week suggesting the armed forces have failed to fully integrate women into the front line.
Defence Force figures show that, five years after restrictions were lifted, only 16 women are in combat roles with the army with none in the SAS.
At a time when the old slogan "Girls can do anything" has just about been forgotten because it is no longer relevant, it is hard to believe sexism still lingers in our armed forces.
With women in our top political positions, running one of our biggest companies - Telecom - and filling just about every traditionally male role one can think of, New Zealand can be proud of the way it has swept away sexist barriers over the past couple of decades.
However, there are reasons true, statistical equality of pay may never be reached.
For example, women take time out of the workplace to have children and can be passed by men on a similar career ladder.
And there are jobs that are likely to continue to have an over-representation of men (mechanics) and of women (kindergarten teachers).
These jobs may just appeal more to a particular sex for a variety of reasons, in the same way that ex-Poms are over-represented in local soccer teams and a high number of Indians are keen on cricket.
And so it may be with the armed forces. It is not every young woman who will want to dig foxholes in the Waiouru wilderness and spend winter evenings shivering in the hole while they pretend to avoid mortar fire. Finding young men of adequate calibre for the rigours of the army is hard enough.
The test should not be if any particular job has a 50-50 split of male/female workers, but whether there is a genuine lack of discrimination against applicants on the grounds of gender.
If women feel they are the victims of discrimination and, as a consequence, are being excluded from joining frontline units, then the matter should be investigated and, if proven, corrected.
However, if it is purely a case of women not wishing to participate in such roles - some would say having the sense to find more rewarding careers either inside or outside the military - then there really isn't a need for busybodies to try to "improve" the statistics.