Female Fighters in the Sierra Leone War: Challenging the Assumptions?

Abstract

This article looks at how the category of female fighters in the Sierra Leone civil war (1991–2002) was interpreted by the local population and by the international humanitarian community. The category of the female fighter both challenges and confuses the gendered stereotypes of ‘woman the victim’ and ‘man the perpetrator’ on multiple levels. Most research on ‘women and war’ focuses on women either as inherently more peaceful or merely as victims, and often unwittingly reproduces in ‘war-affected women’ a corresponding lack of ‘agency’. In this article, I criticize such theorizing by demonstrating the diversity and specificity of Sierra Leonean women's war experiences, while also examining how the notion of and discourse about war itself is gendered. While it has become necessary to expand the inquiries into what women do in war and to critically analyse women's roles as perpetuators and perpetrators of war and conflict, this article maintains that in situations where one can talk about the violence of women, as in the example of female combatants, one often finds violence against women as well.

Participation as Principle and Tool in Social Reintegration: Young Mothers Formerly Associated with Armed Groups in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Northern Uganda

“…Denov & MacLure, (2006) argue that where girls and young women participate actively as fighters, they often experience power and considerable opportunities to assert their will. However Coulter (2008) points out this is within the severe structural constraints of being within an armed force of group. This points to an important distinction between selfefficacy and agency of which self-efficacy may be an element.…”

Gender and Conflict

“…Coulter blames this kind of duality on the presence of humanitarian discourse by referring to Martha Thompson; who noted that "In most aid discourse and conflict analysis on women and war, women are 'located' primarily as refugees, displaced persons, or victims" (Thompson, 2006). He further noted that this notion of victimhood has crippled women and as a result has led to what he called "lack of agency (Coulter, 2008).…”

“…In a similar vein, women in Iran during the second world war were active in the revolutions that took place in 1953 and 1979 (p.179). Women taking part in war is not a new phenomenon though the likelihood of it been accepted as a fact is minimal (Coulter, 2008). Coulter (2008) argues that women are also active participants in war who serve in various capacities ranging from spies, soldiers, and rebels.…”

“…Women taking part in war is not a new phenomenon though the likelihood of it been accepted as a fact is minimal (Coulter, 2008). Coulter (2008) argues that women are also active participants in war who serve in various capacities ranging from spies, soldiers, and rebels. However, she notes that there is a restriction concerning choices women make during conflict due to the hierarchical structures and context.…”

“…The gendered conception of the role women plays in "armed conflicts and wars" creates discrimination which reinforces the inequalities "between men and women" (Mjaaland, 2006). Most scholars consider women as victims, looking at the way women who are engaged in insurgent groups are sometimes coerced and forced to enroll, and also due to the widespread of sexual abuse during wartime (Coulter, 2008).…”