Civil Wars

Female Combatants and the Post-Conflict Process in Sierra Leone

Citation:

Cullen, Laura C. 2020. "Female Combatants and the Post-Conflict Process in Sierra Leone." Journal of International Women's Studies 21 (2): 114-25.

Author: Laura C. Cullen

Abstract:

Women and girls had a specific and gendered experience of the civil war in Sierra Leone. They filled the role of combatants, ‘bush wives’, child soldiers, and sexual slaves. As a result of these roles, women are often described as having dual identities of both perpetrators and victims of violence. This duality resulted in the complex question of how to help these women both reintegrate into society and also address the crimes which they are alleged to have committed during the war. In this paper, I argue that these women and girls should be treated as victims due to the fact that their crimes were committed under coercion. I investigate the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) process, performing a critique of its gendered assumptions and its inability to provide adequate assistance to females coerced into combat. I perform a critical analysis of the formation and efficacy of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). I investigate the Special Court’s treatment of the women and girls who were victims coerced into war and potentially held responsible as if they were perpetrators. In doing so, critical deconstruction of the treatment of these women highlights both the hybrid court’s successes and failures in advocating for these women. Throughout the paper, I explore the question of how the post-conflict reconstruction process should treat women and girls, who are victims but who have discursively been positioned also as perpetrators.

Keywords: female combatants, women combatants, Special Court for Sierra Leone, bush wives, DDR, child soldiers, post-conflict resolutions, international criminal justice, hybrid courts, gendered assumptions in the post-conflict process

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Child Soldiers, Female Combatants, DDR, Gender, Women, Girls, Justice, International Tribunals & Special Courts, TRCs, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction, Sexual Violence, Sexual Slavery Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2020

The Positivist Study of Gender and International Relations

Citation:

Reiter, Dan. 2015. "The Positivist Study of Gender and International Relations." The Journal of Conflict Resolution 59 (7): 1301-26. 

Author: Dan Reiter

Abstract:

Up until about 2000, most of the work on gender and international relations (IR) was nonpositivist in nature. Since 2000, there has been a burst of positivist gender/IR scholarship, much of it quantitative. This work has addressed several important areas in IR, including terrorism, interstate war, human rights, civil war, violence against civilians, public opinion, international norms, globalization, and others. Much of this work has developed new data, advanced theory, and employed rigorous empirical methods. This article surveys this positivist scholarship. It discusses how positivist and nonpositivist gender/IR work complement each other. This article makes recommendations about directions for future scholarship on gender and IR.

Keywords: war, civilian casualties, civil wars, terrorism

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Feminisms, Gender, Rights, Human Rights, Terrorism

Year: 2015

Why Now? Timing Rebel Recruitment of Female Combatants

Citation:

Israelsen, Shelli. 2020. "Why Now? Timing Rebel Recruitment of Female Combatants." Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 43 (2): 123-44.

Author: Shelli Israelsen

Abstract:

Using case study evidence, this article demonstrates how the relationship between conflict intensity, gender inclusive ideologies and gender inclusive policies on one hand, and the decision to recruit female combatants on the other hand, is conditioned by the groups' conflict phase. Conflict phases divide conflict events into two distinct parts, the guerrilla activity phase and the civil war phase, contingent on the insurgents' number of armed fighters, military capabilities, level of institutionalization and degree of territorial control. These conflict phases affect the recruitment behavior of insurgent groups making them more likely to recruit female combatants in the civil war phase and less likely to do so in the guerrilla activity phase.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, Conflict, Gender, Military Forces & Armed Groups

Year: 2020

Insurgent Women: Female Combatants in Civil Wars

Citation:

Darden, Jessica Trisko, Alexis Henshaw, and Ora Szekely. 2019. Insurgent Women: Female Combatants in Civil Wars. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press.

Authors: Jessica Trisko Darden, Alexis Henshaw, Ora Szekely

Annotation:

Summary:
Why do women go to war? Despite the reality that female combatants exist the world over, we still know relatively little about who these women are, what motivates them to take up arms, how they are utilized by armed groups, and what happens to them when war ends. This book uses three case studies to explore variation in women's participation in nonstate armed groups in a range of contemporary political and social contexts: the civil war in Ukraine, the conflicts involving Kurdish groups in the Middle East, and the civil war in Colombia. In particular, the authors examine three important aspects of women's participation in armed groups: mobilization, participation in combat, and conflict cessation. In doing so, they shed light on women's pathways into and out of nonstate armed groups. They also address the implications of women's participation in these conflicts for policy, including postconflict programming. This is an accessible and timely work that will be a useful introduction to another side of contemporary conflict. (Summary from Georgetown University Press)
 
Table of Contents:
1. Ukraine: Defending the Motherland
 
2. The Kurdish Regions: Fighting as Kurds, Fighting as Women
 
3. Colombia: Women Waging War and Peace

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, Conflict, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding Regions: MENA, Americas, South America, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Eastern Europe Countries: Colombia, Iraq, Ukraine

Year: 2019

A Feminist Analysis of the Reconciliation Process in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka

Citation:

Sonal, Shruti, and Ninghtoujam Koiremba. 2019. "A Feminist Analysis of the Reconciliation Process in Post-Conflict Sri Lanka." International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research 4 (3): 1615-29.

Authors: Shruti Sonal, Ninghtoujam Koiremba

Abstract:

Feminist scholars like Cynthia Enloe, Ann Tickner and Urvashi Butalia have contributed to creating a more nuanced approach to concerns of international relations such as war and security by highlighting the gendered experiences of conflict and reconstruction. This has been translated into legal frameworks at the international level, including the much-lauded UNSC Resolution 1325 which reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts. Several other attempts have been made to stress the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security. However, the application of feminist ethics has not yet been given priority in the realm of reconciliation and transitional justice in post-conflict societies. While there's an unanimous understanding that women experience conflict and respond to violence and deprivation in ways different from that of men, the concerns of women are often overshadowed in post-conflict reconciliation as issues of cessation of violence, infrastructural rebuilding and economic recovery occupy centrestage. There's a growing recognition of the fact that the ways in which conflict changes men’s and women’s roles, needs, and capacities must be taken into account to ensure successful and sustainable reconstruction and reconciliation in post-conflict societies.It is in this context that the paper will analyse the post-conflict reconciliation process in Sri Lanka from a feminist perspective. It will analyse how the two-decade long civil war in the country affected women, both as victims of abuse, heads of families and combatants in militant groups. It will emphasise on the fact that even though the Sri Lanka military achieved a decision victory against the LTTE in 2009, issues of social reconciliation remain unresolved. Then, it will seek to analyse the post-2009 scenario in Sri Lanka, and whether the government has been successful in addressing the gender concerns.

Keywords: feminism, reconciliation, conflict, Gender, Sri Lanka, peacebuilding

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, Feminisms, Households, Justice, Transitional Justice, Post-Conflict, Post-Conflict Reconstruction Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Sri Lanka

Year: 2019

Understanding Women at War: A Mixed-Methods Exploration of Leadership in Non-State Armed Groups

Citation:

Henshaw, Alexis, June Eric-Udorie, Hannah Godefa, Kathryn Howley, Cat Jeon, Elise Sweezy, and Katheryn Zhao. 2019. "Understanding Women at War: A Mixed-methods Exploration of Leadership in Non-state Armed Groups." Small Wars & Insurgencies: Gender, Insurgency and Terrorism 30 (6-7): 1089-116.

Authors: Alexis Henshaw, June Eric-Udorie, Hannah Godefa, Kathryn Howley, Cat Jeon, Elise Sweezy, Katheryn Zhao

Abstract:

Recent efforts aimed at understanding women’s contributions to nonstate armed groups have produced large-scale data sets on female combatants (Wood and Thomas 2017) and more limited data on women’s roles as supporters and leaders in armed groups (Henshaw 2016; 2017, Loken 2018). The present study aims to build on this literature by providing new data on the scope of women’s leadership in insurgent groups. While existing quantitative literature has focused mostly on the experience of female combatants, we argue that the presence of women in leadership roles is crucial to understanding how gender might influence the outcomes of insurgency. We introduce new data on over 200 insurgent groups active since World War II. While our analysis confirms earlier small-sample work demonstrating women’s presence in leadership roles, a qualitative analysis reveals that leadership is often gendered–revealing patterns of tokenization and tracking women to low-prestige leadership roles. At the same time, our findings challenge past research on jihadist organizations, showing limited expansion in the authority of women.

Keywords: civil conflict, civil war, Gender, women, insurgency, terrorism, rebellion, leadership

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, Conflict, Gender, Women, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups

Year: 2019

Living Maoist Gender Ideology: Experiences of Women Ex-Combatants in Nepal

Citation:

K.C., Luna, and Gemma Van Der Haar. 2019. "Living Maoist Gender Ideology: Experiences of Women Ex-combatants in Nepal." International Feminist Journal of Politics 21 (3): 434-53.

Authors: Luna K.C., Gemma Van Der Haar

Abstract:

Studies of women’s participation in civil conflict as armed combatants have attributed diverse motivations to such participation and examined the implications of participation for women’s empowerment in the aftermath. The authors contribute to these studies through an in-depth analysis of female combatants’ struggles for equality and empowerment during and after Nepal’s decade-long Maoist conflict. Scholars have argued that the emphasis of Maoist ideology in Nepal on the emancipation of women and on ending gender discrimination attracted a large number of women to the cause. Based on narratives of Maoist female ex-combatants, the authors investigate women’s engagement with Maoist ideology during and after the conflict. These narratives reveal that despite discourses of gender equality in Nepal’s Maoist struggle, promises around gender equality remain unkept in the period after the war. A reintegration program has offered women ex-combatants few options and has pushed women back into traditional gender roles. Struggles continue in this terrain. Incorporating intersectionality, the paper highlights how women ex-combatants’ gender identities intersect with caste and other social locations to produce diverse challenges for their lives.

Keywords: Maoist armed conflict, gender ideology, empowerment, women ex-combatants, post-conflict Nepal

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Caste, Combatants, Female Combatants, Conflict, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Post-Conflict Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Nepal

Year: 2019

Armed Conflict and Women's Agency: The Case of Swat, Pakistan

Citation:

Wagha, Rehana. 2014. “Armed Conflict and Women's Agency: The Case of Swat, Pakistan.” Asian Journal of Women's Studies 20 (3): 121-31.

Author: Rehana Wagha

Abstract:

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:

Women are generally portrayed as the helpless victims of armed conflicts. However, the consequences of such portrayal or essentialist representations prove very adverse for women’s identity and agency. Rather than fully acknowledging women’s courage and strength in civil conflicts and war situations, their role and voices are hidden and muffled. As a result, they are neither counted nor given any role in critical decision-making for the future. This study is aimed at retrieving women’s agency in the context of Islamic militancy in the Swat region of Pakistan.

URDU ABSTRACT:

Keywords: agency, patriarchy, Islamic militancy, identity, female consciousness, feminism

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Gender, Women, Terrorism, Violence Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Pakistan

Year: 2014

When There Is No Justice: Gendered Violence and Harm in Post-conflict Sri Lanka

Citation:

Davies, Sara E., and Jacqui True. 2017. "When There Is No Justice: Gendered Violence and Harm in Post-conflict Sri Lanka." The International Journal of Human Rights 21 (9): 1320-36.

Authors: Sara E. Davies, Jacqui True

Abstract:

Reparative measures for conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) attend to the practical needs of victims while also addressing the long-term structural conditions that led to the violence and often endure after conflict. Over the last decade, transitional justice has sought to address high levels of impunity for SGBV, while also addressing the long-term structural conditions causing and exacerbating it. In this article we study the case of Sri Lanka, where crimes have been committed during and after the civil war (1983–2009) but a transitional justice mechanism to redress them is unlikely to be established. The article considers whether in such a situation of impunity gender-sensitive approaches to SGBV prevention can still be promoted to ensure its non-recurrence. We closely examine post-conflict Sri Lanka and women’s ongoing experiences of multiple forms of insecurity and violence to highlight the relationship between enduring structural gender inequalities and reparative justice. Bridging human rights and political economy approaches, we argue that addressing gender inequalities in access to resources and public space is essential to prevent further gender-based violence and structural harms in conflict-affected countries like Sri Lanka.

Keywords: post-conflict, sexual violence, gender-based violence, gender inequality, human rights, transitional justice, Sri Lanka

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Conflict, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Justice, Transitional Justice, Political Economies, Post-Conflict, Rights, Sexual Violence, Violence Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Sri Lanka

Year: 2017

What’s War Got to Do with It? Post-Conflict Effects on Gender Equality in South and Southeast Asia, 1975–2006

Citation:

Bhattacharya, Srobana and Courtney Burns. 2019. “What’s War Got to Do with It? Post-Conflict Effects on Gender Equality in South and Southeast Asia, 1975–2006.” Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs 6 (1): 55-81.

Authors: Srobana Bhattacharya, Courtney Burns

Abstract:

Does gender equality get better or worse following civil conflict? Given the plethora of research linking gender equality to less bellicosity, we aim to look at the relationship between post-conflict situations and gender equality. Specifically, we argue that circumstances surrounding how a conflict ends can better explain gender equality levels in a country in the post-conflict set up. We discuss whether outright victory for rebel groups will have the best impact for women due to the regime change and democratic process that typically follows. We conduct a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of 13 cases of intrastate conflicts in South and Southeast Asia for the years 1975–2006 along with an in-depth case study of Nepal.We find that rebel victory does have a positive impact on women in post-conflict situations when religious freedom was high, the conflict was centre seeking and wanted to establish a democratic regime.

Keywords: post-conflict, gender equality, conflict termination, civil war

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Democracy / Democratization, Conflict, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Post-Conflict, Religion Regions: Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia Countries: Nepal

Year: 2019

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