Women & Civil War: Impact, Organizations and Action

Since the end of the Cold War, civil wars (intrastate conflicts) have come to dominate the international landscape. These conflicts have caused massive death and destruction, uprooting of the populations, and erosion of social capital. A wide range of factors and conditions have contributed to their growth. They include poverty and the struggle for scarce resources in a period of rising expectations, rapid economic modernization, ethnic rivalries and divisions, political repression by authoritarian governments, arbitrary national boundaries imposed by colonial powers, and the erosion of the international architecture created during the Cold War. Often, civil wars occur during natural calamities and disasters, contributing to "complex emergencies." Some examples of recent civil wars are Angola, Bosnia, Cambodia, El Salvador, Georgia, Guatemala, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Rwanda. Although many of these conflicts have been resolved, others continue unabated, perpetuating human misery.

This book explores the impact of these conflicts on women and gender relations and the ways in which women respond to them.

To read excerpts from the book, click here