Editing Draft evasion (section)

===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 />