Article in the 25th Anniversary magazine:

World Veteran Federation (WVF)
Standing Committee on Women (SCOW)

The World Veteran Federation was founded in 1950 by veteran federations of the six victorious nations. The federation representing German war veterans was accepted as a member the following year, along with Finland's Disabled War Veterans Association. That is when people could say: "We former allies and enemies hereby unanimously swear: never will there be wars again!"

Sadly, however, we all know that wars still exist and that they are more savage than before. News bulletins show us horrific pictures of wars going on around the world on a daily basis. The number of World War II veterans may be dwindling but they are being replaced by new war veterans each day. This also means that the focus of the WVF is gradually shifting from Europe towards Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

In addition to the Disabled War Veterans Association of Finland, the Finnish War Veterans Association, the Union of Front Veteran Soldiers and The Federation of Women Veterans in Finland have since also joined the World Veteran Federation. Finns have made a significant contribution to the veteran cause, as benefits can be enjoyed by all veterans. In some countries disabled war veterans might have excellent services but other veterans have been left to fend for themselves.

It must be said that Finnish women veterans only got official recognition eight years after the first women veteran organisations had been established. It took another eight years before women actually got equal legal recognition with veteran men: "A wartime veteran is a person who has a front veteran badge, an active service badge or a front badge ... ." The benefits of front veterans have been articulated and developed over the years and co-operation has improved and become more flexible too.

The Federation of Women Veterans in Finland was founded in 1980. I joined the organisation in 1983 and was made secretary. The organisation would expanding and developing strongly then. Chairmen and secretaries began to work in co-operation with other veteran organisations. Aid granted by the government was the pet subject of organisation employees. Veteran rehabilitation programs were being developed as well.

As co-operation between the various veteran organisations deepened, the Federation of Women Veterans also became interested in international veteran affairs. Our vice chairwoman at the time (in 1984) was social councelor Maila Mikkola. She was also the chairwoman of the women veterans´ organisation in the Helsinki and Uusimaa region. It is with her that we marched up to the secretary-general of the Disabled War Veterans Association of Finland, Mr Ensio Koivisto, to enquire about the possibility of WVF membership. Mr Koivisto explained to us how the federation works and what the application process is. He believed we should apply for membership.

Up until then women had only participated in the WVF as members' of national veteran organisations - not as women representing women veterans in their own right.

Mr Koivisto said the Paris headquarters would probably enquire the opinion of other veteran organisations but that he was sure there would be no objections to our membership.

So that is what we did. We sent our application to Paris in 1984 and it was considered by the council of the WVF at their meeting in Athens that same autumn. The Council decided to put a motion in favour of the membership of the Federation of Women Veterans in Finland, which would then be decided upon at WVF's next general meeting the following year.

And so it happened. We, along with the chairwoman of the Southern Ostrobotnian region's women veterans, Sipi Tilus, represented the Federation of Women Veterans in Finland at the general assembly of the World Veteran Federation in the autumn of 1985, in Rotterdam.

In the meantime, our federation had been invited to a co-operation meeting in Belgrade as an "observer". We attended the meeting along with Ms Maila Mikkola and we were pleased to see how positively people viewed as part of the Finnish delegation.

The general council decided upon a lot of things in Rotterdam, notably on the foundation of the Standing Committee on Women (SCOW) and the election of a representative for it, June Willenz. She was then the executive director of the US veteran committee.

Ms Willenz was - and still is - a real human dynamo. Since Rotterdam, she has been the driving force behind women veterans' benefit reforms. At each WVF meeting, Ms Willenz has done her best to organise a women veterans' meeting only - were it only for an afternoon.

It was agreed upon that each member state would appoint a woman representative for SCOW. In some cases, such as with some African countries, men were allowed to represent their countries' women in the SCOW. The board of the Federation of Women Veterans in Finland appointed me as their representative for the SCOW.

Throughout history, veterans have always been assumed to be men only. History does tell us of a few women soldiers, however, who have participated in battle. Many groups of women have followed soldiers to battle, either as nurses, caterers, entertainers, family members or as what previously have also been derogatively described as just trash.

This happened during World War II both at home and abroad - although in an orderly manner, as we all well know.

When the war was over and war veteran benefits started being handed out, legislation pertaining to it only extended benefits to men. That's how things were done in Finland. Although part of the World Veteran Federation's members were women, women veterans rarely got to enjoy the same benefits as men veterans. Not much thought had been given to how or to what extent war affected women.

The federations of the International Red Cross have pointed out that the vast majority of war victims are women, children and elderly. Civilians account for as much as 90% of victims. The federations have demanded that this be recognised by follow-ups and legislation.

Even before the SCOW was founded, women members of the WVF had met to discuss the role of women in war. One member in particular, Bodil Seehausen, who had been part of the Danish resistance, was an active participant in this debate. Ms Seehausen made indeed a significant contribution to the women's cause within the WVF. Unfortunately, I never got to know her, as she died soon after the SCOW had been founded. She had planted a seed, however, and this seed has now germinated and grown considerably.

We were absolutely determined to get a clear picture of the role women have in wars. [We decided to devote a whole week to it and] June Willenz invited us all to Bellago in Northern Italy, which is a lovely alpine town.

The castle along with adhering terrain had been donated to the Rockerfeller foundation by an American-born blueblood on the condition that the castle be used for conferences and research purposes only and that researchers be provided with free up-keep during their stay. The castle itself along with its adjacent buildings and art treasurers was superb, a real pearl. We, "women of the world", had the privilege of enjoying this wonderful hospitality and we spent a lovely conference week there. The conference was attended by women from Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa and the United States. The world federation's secretariat was also present at the conference.

We would admire the castle's furniture, library, art collection and silk tapestries during our time off [which were such a contrast to what we were there to talk about?]. Breakfast and lunch were a casual affair whereas dinner and the aperitif were taken with the residing researchers. Everyone would have their allocated seat at sit-down dinners and everyone made amiable conversation. It was very interesting meeting such highly esteemed researchers. We felt most privileged!

Our sessions would take whole days. During these sessions we would discuss at length the role of women in war as soldiers, as nurses in the army, as prisoners at concentration camps (we had one lady who had experienced the horror of a concentration camp). We also discussed forced labour, sex slavery, rape and enforced work. I told them about the benefits we women already received while working within the battle zone and at the front. At this point I also mentioned the women who had been obligated to work and about the benefits they received - and that how men who had had the same work obligations had actually not been entitled to these same benefits. I can still remember the vivacious laugh of one ebony black African woman who exclaimed at this point: "Can there be such a country? A country where women receive more benefits than men!"

We were able to put together a list of the different roles that women had to assume during the war. We sent a survey related to the subject to women veteran organisations in various countries. I too sent the translated version of the survey to Finnish women veteran organisations (there were no replies, however). These survey results have been used to formulate ways of improving the status of women in war and these suggestions have been presented at the WVF's general assemblies.

The SCOW has continued with its work. Some of its original members have passed away and it has been difficult to find people to replace them. I, for instance, gradually found myself working as June Willenz's assistant and was in charge of her tape recorder. In my opinion, we made a good team. We had conferences all over the world and our work was facinating.

During the Balkans wars June Willenz was yet again able to organise an extraordinary session at the general assembly held in Istanbul. The session was on the rape of women in war. Willenz had especially requested that the men also participate in the session. We heard psychiatrists and other experts who had worked with raped women in the former republic of Yugoslavia. We were given a gruesome and all too vivid account of the horrors women had to go through as rape victims.

I have thought back to my own war experiences. I worked as a nurse at the front and in field hospitals from the very first day of war until September of 1949 [ - so nearly 10 years]. Not once was I confronted with the question. Nevertheless, history tells us that raping the women of the enemy is but one way of waging war. To this very day I do not know whether rapes were common in Finland at that time, no-one has talked about it.

My years at SCOW have been positive. I strongly believe that SCOW has a purpose, as I still feel the world belongs to men with women being left behind.

I would like to give my best wishes to the Federation of Women Veterans in Finland on this day of celebration. May your remaining years be just as successful. I would also like to wish all its members a happy and serene life. I hope the younger generations have fully grasped the horror of war. May people never forget how we men and women fought side by side for Finland's freedom and sovereignty.

Laine-Maire Kyöstilä