Editing Draft evasion (section)

==Draft evasion practices==
[[File:Enemy Activities - Miscellaneous - Anti-draft meeting held by women in Rutgers Square, New York. June, 1917 - NARA - 31480116.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|alt=Crowd of women in a city square|Anti-draft meeting held by women in New York City, 1917]]
Young people have engaged in a wide variety of draft evasion practices around the world, some of which date back thousands of years.<ref name=Prasad>Prasad, Devi; Smythe, Tony, eds. (1968). ''Conscription: A World Survey: Compulsory Military Service and Resistance To It''.  London: [[War Resisters' International]].  {{ISBN|978-0-9500203-1-0}}.</ref><ref name=Christ>Christ, Matthew R. (2006).  ''The Bad Citizen in Classical Athens''. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press, pp.&nbsp;52–57 (from the "Draft Evasion and Compulsory Military Service" section). {{ISBN|978-0-521-73034-1}}.</ref> This section aims to delineate a representative sampling of draft evasion practices and support activities as identified by scholars and journalists. Examples of many of these practices and activities can be found in the section on draft evasion in the nations of the world, further down this page.

===Draft avoidance===
One type of draft avoidance consists of attempts to follow the letter and spirit of the draft laws in order to obtain a legally valid draft deferment or exemption.<ref name=Christ /><ref name="Wittmann">Wittmann, Anna M. (2016). ''Talking Conflict: The Loaded Language of Genocide, Political Violence, Terrorism, and Warfare''.  Santa Barbara, CA: [[ABC-CLIO]], pp.&nbsp;115–116 ("Draft Dodgers" entry). {{ISBN|978-1-4408-3424-0}}.</ref> Sometimes these deferments and exemptions are prompted by political considerations.<ref name=Karnow /> Another type consists of attempts to circumvent, manipulate, or surreptitiously violate the substance or spirit of the draft laws in order to obtain a deferment or exemption.<ref name=Kusch /><ref>Domínguez, Jorge I. "The Cuban Armed Forces, the Party and Society in Wsartime and During Rectification". In Gillespie, Rihard, ed. (1990).  ''Cuba After Thirty Years: Rectification and the Revolution''. London: Frank Cass & Co., p.&nbsp;47, 51.  {{ISBN|978-0-7146-3390-9}}.</ref> Nearly all attempts at draft avoidance are private and unpublicized.<ref name=Fallows /><ref name=Ferber /> Examples include:

====By adhering to the law====
[[File:U.S. draft lottery.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|alt=Important looking man drawing a capsule from a bowl|US Secretary of War [[Newton D. Baker|Newton Baker]] drawing the first number in the [[World War I]] draft lottery, 1917]]
* Claiming [[conscientious objector]] status on the basis of sincerely held religious or ethical beliefs.<ref name=Gitlin>[[Todd Gitlin|Gitlin, Todd]] (1993, orig. 1987). ''[[The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage]]''.  New York: Bantam, rev. ed., pp.&nbsp;291–292 (beginning of "Varieties of Antiwar Experience" section).  {{ISBN|978-0-553-37212-0}}.</ref><ref>[[Staughton Lynd|Lynd, Staughton]]; Lynd, Alice, eds. (1995).  ''Nonviolence in America: A Documentary History'', rev. ed.  Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, Parts V and VII.  {{ISBN|978-1-57075-010-6}}.</ref>{{refn|name=first|Conscientious objector (CO) status does enable a recipient to avoid military service. However, COs who do not choose to perform non-combatant military service are generally required by their governments to perform civilian alternative service in the public or private sectors – typically conservation, health, or cultural work.<ref>[[Charles Moskos|Moskos, Charles C.]]; Chambers, John Whiteclay, II. "The Secularization of Conscience". In Moskos and Chanbers II, eds., ''The New Conscientious Objection: From Sacred to Secular Resistance''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993, p.&nbsp;5.  {{ISBN|978-0-19-507955-5}}.</ref>|group=nb}}
* Claiming a student deferment, when one is in school primarily in order to study and learn.<ref name=Wittmann /><ref>Domínguez, in Gillespie, ed. (1990), p.&nbsp;51.</ref><ref name=Karnow /><ref name=Kusch>[[Frank Kusch|Kusch, Frank]] (2001). ''All American Boys: Draft Dodgers in Canada from the Vietnam War''. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, pp.&nbsp;70–74.  {{ISBN|978-0-470-85104-3}}.</ref>
* Claiming a medical or psychological problem, if the purported health issue is genuine and serious.<ref name=Christ /><ref name=Wittmann />
* Claiming to be [[homosexuality|homosexual]], when one is truly so and the military excludes homosexuals.<ref>[[Lawrence Baskir|Baskir, Lawrence M.]]; [[William Strauss|Strauss, William A.]] (1987). ''Chance and Circumstance: The Draft, the War, and the Vietnam Generation''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, p.&nbsp;45.  {{ISBN|978-0-394-41275-7}}.</ref>
* Claiming economic hardship, if the hardship is genuine and the law recognizes such a claim.<ref>Palmer, Brandon (2013). ''Fighting for the Enemy: Koreans in Japan's War, 1937–1945''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, p.&nbsp;113. {{ISBN|978-0-295-99258-7}}.</ref>
* Holding a job in what the government considers to be an essential civilian occupation.<ref name=Christ /><ref name=Wittmann />
* Purchasing exemptions from military service, in nations where such payments are permitted.<ref name=Duxbury>[[Neil Duxbury|Duxbury, Neil]] (2002). ''Random Justice: On Lotteries and Legal Decision-Making''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.&nbsp;154–155 (citing 19th century Belgium and France, as well as America during the Civil War). {{ISBN|978-0-19-925353-1}}.</ref>
* Not being chosen in a [[Draft lottery (1969)|draft lottery]], where lotteries determine the order of call to military service;<ref name=Fallows>[[James Fallows|Fallows, James]] (1977). "What Did You Do in the Class War, Daddy?" In Robbins, Mary Susannah, ed. (2007, orig. 1999). ''Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists''.  London and Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, pp.&nbsp;159–164. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-5914-1}}.</ref> or not being in a certain age group, where age determines the order of call.<ref name=Christ />
* Not being able to afford armor or other equipment, in polities where conscripts were required to provide their own.<ref name=Christ />

====By circumventing the law====
[[File:Britain's Home Front 1939 - 1945- Conscientious Objectors HU62359.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|alt=Panel appearing to consist of judges and COs|Tribunal for conscientious objectors in Britain during [[World War II]]]]
* Obtaining conscientious objector status by professing insincere religious or ethical beliefs.<ref name=Kusch />{{refn||name=first|group=nb}}
* Obtaining a student deferment, if the student wishes to attend or remain in school largely to avoid the draft.<ref name=Braw />
* Claiming a medical or psychological problem, if the purported problem is feigned, overstated, or self-inflicted.<ref name=Christ /><ref name=Wittmann /><ref name=Kusch /><ref name=Fallows />
* Finding a doctor who would certify a healthy draft-age person as medically unfit, either willingly or for pay.<ref name=Lawrence>Baskir and Strauss (1987), p.&nbsp;12.</ref>
* Deliberately [[Self-harm|self-injuring]] oneself.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/videos-show-russian-men-breaking-limbs-avoid-conscription-1748836 |title=Videos Show Russian Men Breaking Limbs to Avoid Conscription |last=Bickerton |first=James |date=4 October 2022 |website=Newsweek |publisher=Newsweek |access-date=10 May 2025}}</ref>
* Becoming pregnant primarily in order to evade the draft, in nations where women who are not mothers are drafted.<ref name=CL />
* Falsely claiming to be homosexual, where the military excludes homosexuals.<ref name=Kusch />
* Deliberately failing one's military-related intelligence tests.<ref name=Kusch />
* Claiming economic hardship, if the purported hardship is overstated.<ref>Dunn, Clive; Dunn, Gillian (2014).  ''Sunderland in the Great War''.  Barnsley, UK: Pen and Sword Books, p.&nbsp;49 (reporting on a British grocer who was refused a financial exemption, and was given a two-month "extension" instead).  {{ISBN|978-1-78346-286-5}}.</ref>
* Having someone exert personal influence on an officer in charge of the conscription process.<ref name=Christ />
* Successfully [[bribery|bribing]] an officer in charge of the conscription process.<ref name=Braw /><ref name=Lawrence />

===Draft resistance===
[[File:Muhammad Ali NYWTS.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Head shot of mistrustful-looking young black man|[[Muhammad Ali]] refused induction in 1967.<ref>{{ISBN|978-0-671-77971-9}}.</ref>|205x205px]]
Draft evasion that involves overt lawbreaking or that communicates conscious or organized resistance to government policy is sometimes referred to as draft resistance.<ref name=Ferber>[[Michael Ferber|Ferber, Michael]] (1998). "Why I Joined the Resistance". In Robbins, Mary Susannah, ed. (2007, orig. 1999). ''Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists''. London and Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, pp.&nbsp;111–119. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-5914-1}}.</ref><ref name=Foley>Foley, Michael S. (2003).  ''Confronting the War Machine: Draft Resistance During the Vietnam War''. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, pp. 6–7, 39, 49, 78. {{ISBN|978-0-8078-5436-5}}.</ref><ref>Sauers, Richard A.; Tomasak, Peter (2012). ''The Fishing Creek Confederacy: A Story of Civil War Draft Resistance''. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8262-1988-6}}.</ref> Examples include:

====Actions by resisters====
* Declining to register for the draft, in nations where that is required by law.<ref name=Gitlin /><ref name=Braw />
* Declining to report for one's draft-related physical examination, or for military induction or call-up, in nations where these are required by law.<ref>Christ (2006), pp.&nbsp;59, 62.</ref><ref name=Luhn />
* Participating in draft card burnings or turn-ins.<ref name=Gitlin /><ref>[[Michael Ferber|Ferber, Michael]] (1967). "A Time to Say No". In Robbins, Mary Susannah, ed.  (2007, orig. 1999). ''Against the Vietnam War: Writings by Activists''.  London and Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, p.&nbsp;120. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-5914-1}}.</ref>
* Living "underground" (e.g., living with false identification papers) and working at an [[unreported employment|unreported job]] after being indicted for draft evasion.<ref name=Gitlin />
* Traveling or emigrating to another country, rather than submitting to induction or to trial.<ref name=Christ /><ref name=Williams>Williams, Roger N. (1971). ''The New Exiles: American War Resisters in Canada''. New York: Liveright Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-87140-533-3}}.</ref>
* Going to jail, rather than submitting to induction or to alternative government service.<ref>[[Stephen M. Kohn|Kohn, Stephen M.]] (1987). ''Jailed for Peace: The History of American Draft Law Violators, 1658 –1985''.  Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-275-92776-9}}.</ref><ref>[[David Harris (protester)|Harris, David]] (1976). ''I Shoulda Been Home Yesterday: 20 Months in Jail for Not Killing Anybody''. New York: Delacorte / Dell. {{ISBN|978-0-440-04156-6}}.</ref>
* Shooting and/or killing draft officers and civil authorities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ladden-Hall |first=Dan |date=2022-09-26 |title=Desperate Russian Shoots Recruitment Officer Instead of Signing up to Fight in Ukraine |language=en |work=The Daily Beast |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/russian-war-protester-shoots-commander-trying-to-draft-citizens |access-date=2023-07-30}}</ref>

====Actions by supporters or resisters====
[[File:New York Draft Riots - fighting.jpg|thumb|In 1863, [[New York City draft riots|anti-draft riots]] broke out in New York City.<ref name=Cook />]]
* Organizing or participating in a peaceful street assembly or demonstration against the draft.<ref name=Gitlin />
* Publicly encouraging, aiding, or abetting draft evaders.<ref name=Gitlin />
* Deliberately disrupting a military draft agency's processes or procedures.<ref name=Kusch /><ref>Dowell, LeiLani, et al. (2006). ''We Won't Go!: The Truth on Military Recruiters and the Draft – a Guide to Resistance''. New York: [[International Action Center]].  {{ISBN|978-0-9747521-1-2}}.</ref>
* Destroying a military draft agency's records.<ref name=Gitlin /><ref>Lynd and Lynd, eds. (1995), Chap. 35 ("Ultra Resistance").</ref><ref>Peters, Shawn Francis (2012). ''The Catonsville Nine: A Story of Faith and Resistance in the Vietnam Era''. Oxford, UK and New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN| 978-0-19-982785-5}}.</ref>
* Organizing or participating in a riot against the draft.<ref name=Cook>Cook, Adrian (2014, orig. 1982).  ''The Armies of the Streets: The New York City Draft Riots of 1863''. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.  {{ISBN|978-0-8131-5182-3}}.</ref><ref>Dennis, Patrick M. (2017). ''Reluctant Warriors: Canadian Conscripts and the Great War''.  Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, pp.&nbsp;56–57 ("Insurrection" section).  {{ISBN|978-0-7748-3597-8}}.</ref>
* Building an [[anti-war movement]] that treats draft resistance as a vital and integral part of it.<ref name=Ferber /><ref name=Foley />