SWE Officer: Women Should be Allowed to Give Massages in AFG Base

[The Bread Guy]

Uh.  Yeah.  I wonder how much Swedish taxpayers are spending to have this kind of job done - are there not bigger fish to fry? :

A Swedish army gender adviser in Afghanistan has taken the Armed Forces to task for only employing local men to perform massages on troops stationed in Mazar-E-Sharif.

In a written internal document submitted from Swedish headquarters at Camp Northern Lights, Gender Field Adviser Captain Krister Fahlstedt of Afghanistan force FS17 took exception to an army contract specifying that on-base massage services should be provided exclusively by men.

"The agreement specifies, with no further explanation, that the physiotherapists (masseurs/masseuses) should be men," wrote Fahlstedt in his November submission.

The captain's investigations showed that the recommendation was followed to the letter, as two men were brought in to perform massages.

"It is the opinion of FS17 that there are no reasonable grounds for gender to be one of the profile requirements," he wrote.

Fahlstedt further stressed that his force was committed to strengthening the position of women in society by helping create the conditions in which they could become self-sufficient.

"It's not important as such whether women eventually get the job, what's important is that there's equality of opportunity and they are treated on the same terms as men," Fahlstedt told The Local.

"Contracts of this kind must always be gender neutral, and this is actually the only time I've seen an army contract worded in this way," he added ....

 

[dapaterson]

Uh.  Yeah.  I wonder how much Swedish taxpayers are spending to have this kind of job done - are there not bigger fish to fry? :

Three words.


Boom.

Chucka.

Wow.

 

[CougarKing]

Tony,

Got the link source for the article?

>

 

[mariomike]

Got the link source for the article?

http://www.thelocal.se/23846/20091214/

 

[CougarKing]

http://www.thelocal.se/23846/20091214/

Thanks for the link.

 

[gaspasser]

Rats, I just read the news article that stated female Afghan massueses not female Swedish massueses.
My first thought was "how much do they have to pay for that?". Must be nice to get out of public funds.
My second thought was "men massueses?? "  :-[ 
{tongue in cheek} third thought was op:   

;D

 

[The Bread Guy]

Dohhhh!!!  Sorry about not including the link - thanks MM.

Uh, dopey question here - how well would local women rubbing down infidel invaders go down among the locals?

 

[Kat Stevens]

"rubbing down"...hehehe
"go down"...hehehe

 

[sm1lodon]

Good point. Wouldn't it be wiser to only utilize masseurs instead of masseuses in that locale?

 

[gaspasser]

I can see this one going off into left field for some reason.
I wonder why they have to hire local "tradesmen" for massuers?  Not sure I'd enjoy some jihadist pounding that grud out of my back while spouting "death to infidels" ?  You might get more of a deeper tissue massage than you expected ???
When I first read it, I thought they were going to put female Swedish massueses {W} into the positions ?
regards

 

[Blackadder1916]

This story is somewhat titillating for us North Americans who often regard the term "massage" as a euphemism for "rub and tug".  Though I find it strange that they would be seeking local (Afghan?) employees (of any gender) to perform this service, perhaps note should be taken of this particular (highlighted) portion of the officer's comments.

"The agreement specifies, with no further explanation, that the physiotherapists (masseurs/masseuses) should be men," wrote Fahlstedt in his November submission.

Massage therapy is much more accepted as a valid "medical" practice in Europe and often has a close connection to mainstream clinical physiotherapy than over here.  Though I can't speak to the specifics of the regulation of masseurs/masseuses in Sweden, in Germany those who are engaged in "massagepraxis" require over two years of education and are licensed by the same body that regulates physiotherapists.  Plus, depending on the curriculum followed they can become (fully qualified) physiotherapists with an additional 18 to 24 months of schooling.

That the Swedish Forces considers it advantageous to have massage services available to its troops is not new.  Thirty years ago while with UNEF2, I had occasion to visit SWEDBATT out in the Sinai.  They had two masseurs on the establishment of their medical unit .  Unfortunately, at the time of my visit, both of these positions were filled by men (the masseuses at the POLLOG hospital were much more attractive); incidentally, they were in their Army Medical Services as the equivalent of our Med A (Med Tech now).  Their massage duties did not include just post injury rehabilitation.

That the Swedes would be able to find local Afghans who meet the standards required to practice classic (Swedish) massage therapy is unusual; it would be more unusual that they could find such female practitioners.

 

[Greymatters]

This story is somewhat titillating for us North Americans who often regard the term "massage" as a euphemism for "rub and tug".  Though I find it strange that they would be seeking local (Afghan?) employees (of any gender) to perform this service, perhaps note should be taken of this particular (highlighted) portion of the officer's comments.

The inclusion of the term 'men' in the contract may have been a demand by locals who would see a woman earning more than most men in the area as an insult to Afghan manhood throughout the region. 

Use of local employees is also not a strange concept.  Its pretty much universal for all military deployments over the past 30 years to use local labour rather than import civilians.

it would be more unusual that they could find such female practitioners.

I think any Afghan woman who accepted such a job would be in danger of her life...