Combatants

'Today, I Want to Speak Out the Truth': Victim Agency, Responsibility, and Transitional Justice

Citation:

Baines, Erin K. 2015. “‘Today, I Want to Speak Out the Truth’: Victim Agency, Responsibility, and Transitional Justice.” International Political Sociology 9 (4): 316–32.
 

Author: Erin K. Baines

Abstract:

In this article, I am concerned with the political agency available to victims of wartime violence, and the subsequent insights it generates for thinking about complicity and responsibility. The article first considers the problematic ways in which victims are cast in the discipline of transitional justice, drawing on interdisciplinary studies of gender, agency, and wartime violence. I conceptualize the political as relational and situated within a web of human relationships that make life meaningful. Political agency includes acts, gestures, and words that negotiate the value of human life within various relationships. To illustrate, I turn to the life story of Sara, a young woman who grew up in the context of prolonged conflict in northern Uganda. I conclude with thinking about how Sara’s acts of political agency move us beyond static categories of victims in transitional justice, and conceive of responsibility as diffuse and socially held.

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Justice, Transitional Justice, TRCs, Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2015

The Voices of Girl Child Soldiers Colombia

Citation:

Keairns, Yvonne E. 2003. The Voices of Girl Child Soldiers Colombia. New York: Quaker United Nations Office; Geneva: Quaker United Nations Office.

Author: Yvonne E. Keairns

Annotation:

Summary:

"This report on the voices of girl child soldiers in Colombia is part of a larger study that carried out in-depth interviews with 23 girl soldiers from four different conflict areas around the world. The voices of these girls provide important insights into becoming a child soldier, the experience of being a child soldier and their view of the future. Among the key conclusions were the messages that:

• Becoming a child soldier is very dependent on a combination of the local environment and the personal circumstances surrounding the girl’s life.

• Living in poverty was important in girls joining a movement or being abducted.

• The girls are not searching for ways to retaliate and bring harm to those who had used and misused them. They were looking for ways to make a contribution, to do something meaningful and productive with their life and to make up for the harm they have delivered upon others" (Keairns 2003, 1).

 

Table of Contents:

 

i Acknowledgments

 

1 Summary

 

2 Introduction

 

2 Why listen to the voices of the girl soldier?

 

3 Methodology

 

5 Analysis of the Data

 

6 What Were the Important Themes

 

6 The Voices of Girl Soldiers from Colombia

 

15 Colombia Distinctives

 

16 What are Key Risk Factors in the Choice to Become a Child Soldier?

 

17 Lessons Learned from the Girl Soldiers on the Interview Process

 

19 References

 

21 APPENDICES

 

21 I. Affirmation of Informed Consent

for Interviewee

 

22 II. Ethical Guidelines for Interviewers

 

23 III. Interviewer Actions and Responsibilities

 

25 IV. APA Code of Ethics

 

26 V. Team Leader Actions and Responsibilities

 

27 VI. Interviewer Training / Dialogue Agenda

 

29 VII. Role Play

 

30 VIII. The Voices of Girl Soldiers from Colombia

Topics: Age, Youth, Combatants, Child Soldiers, Female Combatants, Gender, Girls Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2003

Informe Especial del Instituto Kroc y el acompañamiento internacional, ONU Mujeres, FDIM y Suecia, al seguimiento del enfoque de género en la implementación del Acuerdo Final

Citation:

KROC Institute for International Peace Studies. 2018. Informe Especial del Instituto Kroc y el acompañamiento internacional, ONU Mujeres, FDIM y Suecia, al seguimiento del enfoque de género en la implementación del Acuerdo Final. Bogotá: KROC Institute.

Author: KROC Institute for International Peace Studies

Annotation:

Summary:
Este informe presenta un análisis del proceso de implementación del enfoque de género transversal al Acuerdo Final para la Terminación del Conflicto y la Construcción de una Paz Estable y Duradera entre diciembre 2016 y junio de 2018. La Embajada de Suecia, la Federación Democrática Internacional de Mujeres (FDIM) y la Entidad de las Naciones Unidas para la Igualdad de Género y el Empoderamiento de las Mujeres (ONU Mujeres), junto a la Iniciativa Barómetro del Instituto Kroc de Estudios Internacionales de Paz de la Universidad de Notre Dame presentan este informe de avances y desafíos en la implementación del enfoque de género, con base en la información recopilada en el proceso de seguimiento que cada una de estas organizaciones lleva a cabo.
 
Como apoyo técnico al Componente Internacional de Verificación (CIV), el Instituto Kroc desarrolló una matriz con la cual hace seguimiento a la implementación del Acuerdo Final. El Instituto identificó en el texto de Acuerdo, 578 disposiciones (acciones concretas, observables y medibles), de las cuales 130 tienen un enfoque de género. Estas acciones comprometen a las partes involucradas (Gobierno y FARC) a poner en marcha acciones afirmativas específicas para asegurar el liderazgo y participación de las mujeres y la población LGBTI, en programas e instituciones relacionadas con la implementación del Acuerdo Final. Por su parte, ONU Mujeres identificó 100 medidas con enfoque de género en el Acuerdo que incluyen medidas para el desarrollo normativo. Así mismo, ONU Mujeres hace seguimiento al desarrollo de política pública en materia de implementación con el propósito de identificar alertas, brechas y recomendaciones. La FDIM, ha concentrado sus esfuerzos en los territorios, trabajando con organizaciones de mujeres y en los Espacios Territoriales de Capacitación y Reincorporación (ETCR). En este proceso, FDIM ha recogido las demandas, necesidades básicas e intereses estratégicos de las mujeres en proceso de reincorporación social, política y económica, verificando el nivel de avance en el cumplimiento del Acuerdo Final en esta materia. Por último, la Embajada de Suecia ha venido apoyando la implementación del Acuerdo de Paz a través de apoyo económico y político a proyectos relacionados con la reincorporación, justicia transicional, derechos de las víctimas y desarrollo rural, siempre con un enfoque especial en la realización de los derechos de las mujeres y en una mayor igualdad de género.
 
El análisis de las 130 disposiciones con enfoque de género identificadas por el Instituto Kroc revela que, a 30 de junio de 2018, el 51%, de los compromisos con enfoque de género no se habían iniciado; el 38% estaban mínimamente implementados; el 7% habían alcanzado un nivel intermedio de implementación; y el 4% de los compromisos (cinco disposiciones) se habían implementado completamente. El contraste con el ritmo de implementación de la totalidad de las disposiciones (578), evidencia diferencias importantes en los niveles de implementación del enfoque de género frente a los niveles implementación general del
Acuerdo. Se observa una brecha significativa entre los compromisos con un enfoque de género que no han iniciado implementación (51%) y la proporción del total de compromisos en el Acuerdo que no han iniciado implementación (37%). Esto representa una brecha de implementación de 14 puntos porcentuales.
 
El presente informe se centra en identificar avances y desafíos en el proceso de implementación de estos compromisos en general, y en particular, en temas específicos identificados en las mesas técnicas con
diversos actores, que consideramos son de suma importancia para la
calidad de la paz y para evitar eventuales cascadas negativas en el proceso
de implementación. Dichos temas son:
 
1. Implementación Reforma Rural Integral y Solución al Problema de las Drogas Ilícitas.
2. Implementación de las medidas de participación de las mujeres en la implementación del Acuerdo y en la construcción de paz.
3. Implementación de garantías de seguridad y protección con enfoque de género
4. Implementación de las medidas para la reincorporación de excombatientes.
 
El informe presenta recomendaciones en torno a temas específicos como la inclusión y definición de medidas diferenciales en los proyectos de ley que aún falta por presentar, tramitar e implementar, y el fortalecimiento institucional que permita obtener información desagregada por sexo, etnia y orientación sexual que informen la creación e implementación de políticas públicas con enfoque de género.

Topics: Combatants, DDR, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Peace and Security, Peace Processes, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2018

A Threat to Canadian National Security: A Lesbian Soldier's Story

Citation:

Gouliquer, Lynne, Carmen Poulin, and Jennifer Moore. 2018. "A Threat to Canadian National Security: A Lesbian Soldier's Story." Qualitative Research in Psychology 15 (2-3): 323-35.

Authors: Lynne Gouliquer, Carmen Poulin, Jennifer Moore

Abstract:

Before 1992, lesbians and gay soldiers were purged and discharged from the Canadian military for “reasons of homosexuality.” Those caught or suspected of homosexuality were subject to lengthy, humiliating, and degrading interrogations. This short story sheds light on this painful past. It is based on findings of a nationally funded pan-Canadian longitudinal study examining how Canadian military policies and practices influenced the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender soldiers and their partners. In total, 126 people were interviewed. While in the military, countless soldiers were investigated, numerous interrogated, many lost their careers, some committed suicide and others survived. Personal details have been changed to ensure the anonymity of the people, but it is their voices that tell this story. An official state apology was delivered November 28, 2017. Due to an impending class action court case, an agreement for compensation was also reached. Compensation and memorials will be forthcoming to those who were affected by the LGBTQI2+ purge campaign. To this day, no evidence exists that these soldiers were “ever” a threat to national security.

Keywords: Canadian military, discharged soldiers, homosexuality, interrogations, justice, LGBT, national security, purge campaign

Topics: Combatants, Justice, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militaries, Security, Sexuality Regions: Americas, North America Countries: Canada

Year: 2018

Violence, Toleration, or Inclusion? Exploring Variation in the Experiences of LGBT Combatants in Colombia

Citation:

Thylin, Theresia. 2020. "Violence, Toleration, or Inclusion? Exploring Variation in the Experiences of LGBT Combatants in Colombia." Sexualities 23 (3): 445-64.

Author: Theresia Thylin

Abstract:

While scholars have started to pay increased attention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons serving in state security forces, little is known of the experiences of LGBT combatants operating in non-state armed groups in conflict settings. This article explores the experiences of LGBT persons from three different armed groups in Colombia. While LGBT combatants are often in a highly vulnerable position, this article reveals large differences between armed groups, as well as important exceptions within groups that contribute to LGBT combatants’ varied experiences. In conclusion, I argue that understanding these variations in LGBT combatants’ experiences has important policy and programme implications and provides opportunities for more inclusive peacebuilding processes in Colombia and beyond.

Keywords: armed conflict, Colombia, combatants, FARC, LGBT

Topics: Armed Conflict, Combatants, Gender, LGBTQ, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups, Peacebuilding, Sexuality Regions: Americas, South America Countries: Colombia

Year: 2020

Sexual Violence and Biased Military Interventions in Civil Conflict

Citation:

Johansson, Karin, and Mehwish Sarwari. 2019. "Sexual Violence and Biased Military Interventions in Civil Conflict." Conflict Management and Peace Science 36 (5): 469-93.

Authors: Karin Johansson, Mehwish Sarwari

Abstract:

What is the impact of foreign troop support on combatant-perpetrated sexual violence against civilians? We hypothesize that biased troop support increases the risk of sexual violence by the subordinate party both as a consequence of strategic considerations and as a product of a situation increasingly conducive to opportunistic behavior. Time-series cross-section analyses of all civil wars during 1989–2012 are largely supportive of our expectation. Rebel groups are more likely to perpetrate sexual violence the more troop support the state receives. Likewise, state forces are more prone to commit sexual violence the more they are challenged by troops supporting the rebel group(s).

Keywords: biased military intervention, civil war, conflict-related sexual violence, external support, troop support, violence against civilians, wartime sexual violence

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Sexual Violence

Year: 2019

Irish Women and Nationalism: Soldiers, New Women and Wicked Hags

Citation:

Ryan, Louise, and Margaret Ward. 2019. Irish Women and Nationalism: Soldiers, New Women and Wicked Hags. Newbridge: Irish Academic Press.

Authors: Louise Ryan, Margaret Ward

Annotation:

Summary:
Studies of Irish nationalism have been primarily historical in scope and overwhelmingly male in content. Too often, the ‘shadow of the gunman’ has dominated. Little recognition has been given to the part women have played, yet over the centuries they have undertaken a variety of roles – as combatants, prisoners, writers and politicians. In this important and influential collection the full range of women’s contribution to the Irish nationalist movement is explored by writers whose interests range from the historical and sociological to the literary and cultural. From the little known contribution of women to the earliest nationalist uprisings of the 1600s and 1700s, to their active participation in the republican campaigns of the twentieth century, different chapters consider the changing contexts of female militancy and the challenge this has posed to masculine images and structures.
 
Using a wide range of sources, including textual analysis, archives and documents, newspapers and autobiographies, interviews and action research, individual writers examine sensitive and highly complex debates around women’s role in situations of conflict.
 
Irish Women and Nationalism, first published in 2004 and now reissued with a new foreword by Marie Coleman, is a major contribution to wider feminist debates about the gendering of nationalism, raising questions about the extent to which women’s rights, demands and concerns can ever be fully accommodated within nationalist movements. (Summary from Irish Academic Press)
 
Table of Contents:
Preface
Marie Coleman
 
Foreward
Sinead McCoole
 
1. Introduction
Louise Ryan and Margaret Ward
 
2. Testimonies to History: Reassessing Women's Involvement in the 1641 Rising
Andrea Knox
 
3. Revolution in Ireland, Evolution in Women’s Rights: Irish Women in 1798 and 1848
Jan Cannavan
 
4. ‘in the Line of Fire’: Representations of Women and War (1919–1923) through the Writings of Republican Men
Louise Ryan
 
5. Constance Markievicz and the Politics of Memory
Karen Steele
 
6. Representations and Attitudes of Republican Women in the Novels of Annie M. P. Smithson (1873–1948) and Rosamond Jacob (1888–1960)
Danae O’Regan
 
7. ‘and behind Him a Wicked Hag Did Stalk’: From Maiden to Mother, Ireland as Woman through the Male Psyche
Jayne Steel
 
8. ‘We Had to Be Stronger’: The Political Imprisonment of Women in Northern Ireland, 1972–1999
Mary Corcoran
 
9. Female Combatants, Paramilitary Prisoners and the Development of Feminism in the Republican Movement
Rhiannon Talbot
 
10. Narratives of Political Activism from Women in West Belfast
Claire Hackett
 
11. the Emergence of a Gender Consciousness: Women and Community Work in West Belfast
Callie Persic
 
12. Times of Transition: Republican Women, Feminism 

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Nationalism, Rights, Women's Rights Regions: Europe, Northern Europe Countries: Ireland

Year: 2019

Female Fighters: Why Rebel Groups Recruit Women for War

Citation:

Wood, Reed M. 2019. Female Fighters: Why Rebel Groups Recruit Women for War. New York: Columbia University Press.

Author: Reed M. Wood

Annotation:

Summary:
The presence of women combatants on the battlefield-especially in large numbers-strikes many observers as a notable departure from the historical norm. Yet women have played a significant active role in many contemporary armed rebellions. Over recent decades, numerous resistance movements in many regions of the globe have deployed thousands of female fighters in combat. In Female Fighters, Reed M. Wood explains why some rebel groups deploy women in combat while others exclude women from their ranks, and the strategic implications of this decision. Examining a vast original dataset on female fighters in over 250 rebel organizations, Wood argues rebel groups can gain considerable strategic advantages by including women fighters. Drawing on women increases the pool of available recruits and helps ameliorate resource constraints. Furthermore, the visible presence of female fighters often becomes an important propaganda tool for domestic and international audiences. Images of women combatants help raise a group's visibility, boost local recruitment, and aid the group's efforts to solicit support from transnational actors and diaspora communities. However, Wood finds that, regardless of the wartime resource challenges they face, religious fundamentalist rebels consistently resist utilizing female fighters. A rich, data-driven study, Female Fighters presents a systematic, comprehensive analysis of the impact women's participation has on organized political violence in the modern era. (Summary from Columbia University Press)

Table of Contents:
Introduction

1. Why Rebels Mobilize Women for War

2. The Strategic Implications of Female Fighters

3. Female Combatants in Three Civil Wars

4. Empirical Evaluation of Female Combatant Prevalence

5. Empirical Evaluation of the Effects of Female Combatants

Conclusion: Understanding Women's Participation in Armed Resistance

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, Media, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Non-State Armed Groups, Religion, Violence

Year: 2019

Gender-Based Differences among 1990-1991 Gulf War Era Veterans: Demographics, Lifestyle Behaviors, and Health Conditions

Citation:

Brown, Mackenzie C., Kellie J. Sims, Elizabeth J. Gifford, Karen M. Goldstein, Marcus R. Johnson, Christina D. Williams, and Dawn Provenzale. 2019. "Gender-Based Differences among 1990-1991 Gulf War Era Veterans: Demographics, Lifestyle Behaviors, and Health Conditions." Women's Health Issues 29 (S1): 47-55. 

Authors: Mackenzie C. Brown, Kellie J. Sims, Elizabeth J. Gifford, Karen M. Goldstein, Marcus R. Johnson, Christina D. Williams, Dawn Provenzale

Abstract:

Objective: The 1990-1991 Gulf War employed more women servicemembers than any prior conflict. Gender-based differences among veterans of this era have yet to be explored. This study is among the first and most recent to stratify Gulf War veteran demographics, lifestyle factors, and self-reported diagnoses by gender. 
 
Methods: Data from the cross-sectional Gulf War Era Cohort and Biorepository pilot study (n = 1,318; collected between 2014 and 2016), including users and nonusers of the Veterans Health Administration, were used to calculate demographics and adjusted odds ratio. 
 
Results: Women veterans were oversampled and comprised approximately 23% of the sample. Women reported similar rates of Veterans Health Administration use (44%) and deployment (67%) as men (46% and 72%, respectively). Women were less likely than men to report frequent alcohol use (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43-0.81; p = .0009) or have a history of smoking (aOR, 0.65; 95% CI, 0.49-0.84; p = .0014). Among common health conditions, women were more likely than men to report a diagnosis of osteoporosis (aOR, 4.24; 95% CI, 2.39-7.51; p < .0001), bipolar disorder (aOR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.15-4.04; p = .0167), depression (aOR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.81-3.16; p < .0001), irritable bowel syndrome (aOR, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.43-3.09; p = .0002), migraines (aOR, 2.96; 95% CI, 2.18-4.01; p < .0001), asthma (aOR, 1.86; 95% CI, 1.29-2.67; p = .0008), and thyroid problems (aOR, 4.60; 95% CI, 3.14-6.73; p < .0001). Women were less likely than men to report hypertension (aOR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.41-0.72; p < .0001), tinnitus (aOR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.33-0.63; p < .0001), and diabetes (aOR, 0.44; 95% CI, 0.28-0.69; p = .0003). 
 
Conclusions: Health differences exist between female and male veterans from the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Gender-specific analyses are needed to better understand the unique health care needs of Gulf War Era veterans and direct future research.
 

Topics: Combatants, Female Combatants, Gender, Health, Mental Health

Year: 2019

Liberia’s Women Veterans: War, Roles and Reintegration

Citation:

Vastapuu, Leena. 2018. Liberia's Women Veterans: War, Roles and Reintegration. London: Zed Books.

Author: Leena Vastapuu

Annotation:

Summary:
The Liberian civil wars of the 1990s and 2000s were notorious for their atrocities, and for the widespread use of child soldiers by both sides. Young girls accounted for up to forty percent of these combatants, but their unique perspective and experiences have largely been excluded from accounts of the conflict.
 
In Liberia’s Woman Veterans, Leena Vastapuu uses an innovative “auto-photographic” methodology to tell the story of two of Africa’s most brutal civil wars through the eyes of 133 former female child soldiers. It allows the book to provide a palpable account of these women’s experiences of trauma and stigma. It also illustrates the challenges of reintegration into postwar society, as well as the women’s hopes and aspirations for the future. Vastapuu argues that these women, too often perceived merely as passive victims of the conflict, can in fact play an important role in postwar reconciliation and peace building. In the process, the work overturns gendered perceptions of warfare and militarism, and provides an exceptional take on postconflict societies. (Summary from Zed Books)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Child Soldiers, DDR, Gender, Girls, Health, Trauma, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2018

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