Female combatants and rebel group behaviour: Evidence from Nepal

Abstract

Recent research examines when and why women join rebel groups as combatants. However, we are only beginning to understand how their presence affects rebel group behaviour and conflict dynamics more generally. I address this gap by analysing how women's participation influences two dimensions of rebel behaviour: their relationship to civilians and their fighting performance. I argue that a greater number of female rebels decreases civilian victimization, but also reduces rebel combat performance. I test these propositions using time-varying district-level data from the Nepalese civil war. The results support both expectations. These findings increase our understanding of the effects of women's participation in civil war.

Civil wars and stumbling of patriarchal societies: The reconstruction of gender relations in post-conflict Liberia

“…Rebel groups which women willingly join may be more enduring and less likely to be defeated in civil wars (Braithwaite and Ruiz 2018;Giri and Haer 2021;Wood and Allemang 2021). Using time-varying district-level data from the Nepalese civil war, Mehrl (2022) tests how women's presence in organized armed groups decreases rebels' civilian victimization and fighting effectiveness and finds a positive relationship where a more significant number of women diminishes civilian victimization and reduces the battleground effectiveness of the rebels.…”