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Draft dodgers avoid military conscription, often due to personal objections or cowardice. Legal ways to avoid the draft include registering as a conscientious objector or enlisting in non-combat positions. Some dodgers flee the country, while others pay someone else to go in their place. Penalties vary depending on the circumstances.
A draft dodger or draft resister is someone who evades a national military conscription, also known as a draft. As a general rule, the term “draft dodger” is used pejoratively, to describe someone who shirks their duty, which is why many people who choose to dodge the draft prefer to be called draft dodgers or draft resisters. Draft dodgers attracted a great deal of public attention in the 1960s, when some enlisted Americans choose to go into hiding or flee rather than be sent to fight in the Vietnam War.
While the concept of draft dodgers may have become popular during the Vietnam War, draft dodgers have been around for centuries. There are a wide variety of reasons for avoiding military service, ranging from personal objections to a war to simple cowardice, and there are also an assortment of ways conscription can be avoided or evaded. Some techniques for avoiding a draft are actually perfectly legal, despite the negative connotations of dodging.
For example, someone may register as a conscientious objector, indicating that they have a moral objection to participating in a war. Depending on the situation, a conscientious objector may be able to avoid military service altogether, or he may be placed in a non-combat position. If he or she feels that supporting a war in any way, shape, or form goes against personal belief, he or she may be excused altogether.
People also avoided conscription due to ill health, claims of homosexuality, and other behavior considered “morally unsuitable” by many in the military, refusing to enlist when drafted or seeking to defer studentship and marriage. Some people have also attempted to enlist in branches of service that are less likely to be sent to combat, such as the United States Coast Guard, thus filling a national service need and reducing the risk of being sent to war. Historically, some draft evaders have simply paid others to go in their place, although this practice is frowned upon today in many regions of the world.
In some cases, a draft dodger simply runs away. He or she may pursue this action out of desperation, especially after a request for conscientious objector status has been denied, or out of a lack of understanding when it comes to options for people wishing to avoid military service. In these cases, the dodger usually leaves the country, often seeking refuge in a nation that is known to be friendly to dodgers.
The charges that a draft dodger may face can vary. Many receive only light prison sentences or fines, because they have not yet joined the military, and thus their actions cannot be characterized as desertion. If, on the other hand, an evader resorts to fraudulent activities in an attempt to escape military service, the penalties could be increased.
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