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Richard C. Eichenberg | Associate Professor, Tufts University

A consistent finding of public opinion research in the United States is the substantial gap in the views of women and men on issues of war and peace.  Women are less likely to support the use of military force, less likely to support increased defense spending, and more likely to express concern about the human costs of war.  Nonetheless, questions remain.... Read more about Gender, War, and World Order: What Explains Gender Difference on Issues of War and Peace?

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Carlo Koos | Senior Researcher, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI); Research Associate, University College London

Rigorous research on the legacy of violence in civil wars has grown tremendously in the last...

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Dr. Nimmi Gowrinathan | Founder and Director, Politics of Sexual Violence Initiative

How do we root our analysis of violent women in the perspective of the female fighters who demand to be seen as political actors? While much has been rightly made of the surge of women in electoral politics, the female fighter reclaims women’s place in another form of political life: on the battlefield and in the streets. Based on nearly two decades of interviews with women in the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, the FARC in Colombia, and elsewhere I argue that the erasure of the female fighter from narratives on gender and power is not only dangerous, but also anti-feminist. Viewing the female fighter in all her complexity reveals the myriad of external forces that threaten the existence of the woman who eventually takes up arms: the violent advances of state soldiers and the policymakers that hold the line;  the cultural constraints that hold her captive to trauma; the violence at home and the guns on the streets that she will eventually fight to reclaim. Each encircling her, reinforcing the other -- until she makes the radical choice to break-through. 

... Read more about Radicalizing Her: Why Women Choose Violence

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Orna Sasson-Levy | Professor in the Department of Sociology and the Gender Studies Program, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

Establishing mandatory service for women in Israel in 1948 could signify gender equality; however, the military has maintained a rigid hierarchic gender division of labor for several decades. In the mid-1990s’, following Supreme Court rulings, several combat roles (including pilot course) were opened to women; the Women’s Corps was dismantled; and many courses were gender integrated. Sasson-Levy argues that these reforms had a dual effect: they broadened military opportunities for women, but at the same time led to a backlash of resistance that threatens these hard-won achievements and women’s equality in the military – and in society – in general.

... Read more about Opportunities and Backlash: Reforms in Women’s Military Service in Israel