Draft evasion

Conscription evasion or draft evasion (American English)^[1] is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military draft laws of one's nation.^[2] Illegal draft evasion is said to have characterized every military conflict of the 20th and 21st centuries, in which at least one party of such conflict has enforced conscription.^[3] Such evasion is generally considered to be a criminal offense,^[2] and laws against it go back thousands of years.^[4]

There are many draft evasion practices. Those that manage to adhere to or circumvent the law, and those that do not involve taking a public stand, are sometimes referred to as draft avoidance. Draft evaders are sometimes pejoratively referred to as draft dodgers,^[5] although in certain contexts that term has also been used non-judgmentally^[6]^[7] or as an honorific.^[8]

Practices that involve lawbreaking or taking a public stand are sometimes referred to as draft resistance. Although draft resistance is discussed below as a form of "draft evasion", draft resisters and scholars of draft resistance reject the categorization of resistance as a form of evasion or avoidance. Draft resisters argue that they seek to confront, not evade or avoid, the draft.^[9]

Draft evasion has been a significant phenomenon in nations as different as Colombia, Eritrea, Canada, France, Russia, South Korea, Syria, Ukraine and the United States. Accounts by scholars and journalists, along with memoiristic writings by draft evaders, indicate that the motives and beliefs of the evaders cannot be usefully stereotyped.

^ "draft meaning - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
^ ^a ^b Beare, Margaret E., ed. (2012). Encyclopedia of Transnational Crime and Justice. Sage Publications, p. 110 ("Draft Dodging" entry). ISBN 978-1-4129-9077-6.
^ Cite error: The named reference Wittmann was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Christ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Bell, Walter F. "Draft Dodgers". In Tucker, Spencer C. (2013). American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, pp. 545–546. ISBN 978-1-85109-677-0.
^ Cite error: The named reference Luhn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference Rachel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Kasinsky, Renée G. (2006). "Fugitives from Injustice: Vietnam War Draft Dodgers and Deserters in British Columbia". In Evans, Sterling, ed. (2006). The Borderlands of the American and Canadian West: Essays on Regional History of the Forty-ninth Parallel. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, p. 270. ISBN 978-0-8032-1826-0.
^ Foley, Michael S. (2003). Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-8078-2767-3. The blurring of this distinction annoys former draft resisters who today find themselves stressing the difference whenever they talk about it.

[1] "draft meaning - Google Search". www.google.com. Retrieved 2023-11-03.

[Beare-2] Beare, Margaret E., ed. (2012). Encyclopedia of Transnational Crime and Justice. Sage Publications, p. 110 ("Draft Dodging" entry). ISBN 978-1-4129-9077-6.

[Wittmann-3] Cite error: The named reference Wittmann was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Christ-4] Cite error: The named reference Christ was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Bell-5] Bell, Walter F. "Draft Dodgers". In Tucker, Spencer C. (2013). American Civil War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, pp. 545–546. ISBN 978-1-85109-677-0.

[Luhn-6] Cite error: The named reference Luhn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Rachel-7] Cite error: The named reference Rachel was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[8] Kasinsky, Renée G. (2006). "Fugitives from Injustice: Vietnam War Draft Dodgers and Deserters in British Columbia". In Evans, Sterling, ed. (2006). The Borderlands of the American and Canadian West: Essays on Regional History of the Forty-ninth Parallel. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, p. 270. ISBN 978-0-8032-1826-0.

[9] Foley, Michael S. (2003). Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 6. ISBN 0-8078-2767-3. The blurring of this distinction annoys former draft resisters who today find themselves stressing the difference whenever they talk about it.

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