Female Fighters and Militants During the Lebanese Civil War: Individual Profiles, Pathways, and Motivations

Abstract

This article offers an analysis of women's profiles, pathways, and motivations to join the Lebanese civil war (1975 to 1990), with a particular focus on female fighters militants involved with Harakat Amal, Kataeb, the Progressive Socialist Party, Lebanese Communist Party, Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The article contributes to existing debates on women's motivations to join nonstate armed groups by examining both militias that included female fighters and those that did not. It is the first study so far that analyses the profiles and motivations of female fighters and militants within all major militias during the Lebanese civil war. ARTICLE HISTORY

Motives for Women’s Participation in Military Conflicts: The Ukrainian Case

“…Twenty (20) e-interviews with women fighting on the pro-Ukrainian side revealed that patriotism and a desire to protect one's country from a hostile foreign force that questions the very existence of the state was the main predominant motive. Other motives, also described in similar research projects (e.g., J. P. Eggert (2018); J.T. Darden et al (2019)) were also found while analyzing the interview data.…”

‘Both needed and threatened’: Armed mothers in militant visuals

“…Peteet (1991) suggests that the PLO trained women in military camps but did not regularly incorporate them as fighters. Eggert (2018), in contrast, estimates that women may have comprised up to 15% of fighters between 1975 and 1990. PFLP posters regularly link women’s liberation with national liberation, though Sayigh (1981) contends that these arguments are not reflected in PFLP praxis.…”