Women in War Essay Example

Introduction

Women's behavior, especially in gender-related norms or gender-based expectations, is often categorized according to different characteristics (Kaufman & Williams, 2013). These may include nurturing, caregiving, and peaceful. As such, in most cases involving interstate and intrastate conflicts, women are commonly associated with various peaceful activities such as protests, public speeches, and silent vigils among others. As a result, their actions reinforce gender norms which in turn shift them from their domain into the public sphere, which most people associate with as men's domain. The main aim of this paper is to address how women should be allowed to go to war. Furthermore, it will also look at the different roles that women play in war-related activities.

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Conflict and war have long been termed as activities which are carried out by men. However, women are also equipped with different strategies especially when they respond to such situations (Kaufman & Williams, 2013). For instance, they tend to be politically active to assist in resolving conflicts by carrying out campaigns such as peace activism. Although this kind of activity may not be categorized as mutually exclusive, it is still considered to be a form of political activism. Nevertheless, peace and violence may not be related in any way. Thus, women might often be able to access a wide range of opportunities.

When attempting to understand why and how women engage in political activism, gender analysis is considered to be one of the best approaches (Kaufman & Williams, 2013). Despite women's rights and gender justice facing decline on the priorities of movements, social justice remains to be one of the most considerable significant factors. As a result, social justice movements tend to serve an important purpose in the development of interventions and policy changes within the human rights movement. These movements also generate profound impacts in matters related to gender equality principles and practices.

Female Journalists Covering Wars and Conflicts: Challenges and Possibilities

In most cases, journalists commonly associate themselves with reporting matters related to conflicts and crises. In turn, they contribute to the overall experiences of the globe on a large scale basis (Orgeret, 2016). Furthermore, they also help in shaping the perceptions and knowledge of the global audience. The possibilities of citizens to experience identification and balanced gender representations genuinely enhance democratic belonging in the media. For instance, free speech interests in a democracy are often strengthened by diverse and multiple voices. Moreover, these voices might also be responsible for creating rationales based on knowledge and autonomy. Also, speech may not be the only component of democracy as debate and diversity of ideas also serve a primary purpose.

Safety may be presented as one of the key preconditions in relation to the free expression and media especially for female journalists (Orgeret, 2016). Many questions often tend to arise regarding the safety of female journalists when covering conflict-related issues. For example, the challenges and opportunities that might be presented as well as measurements that can be taken to ensure their safety. Some of the means that can be used to guarantee that there is enough security include the need for good equipment. Furthermore, good and loyal fixers, as well as drivers, might also be a considerable approach.

Women, Conflict, and Political Activism

Organizations and Women in Armed Conflict

Many organizations tend to lack a particular focus regarding matters related to women in situations involving conflict. Despite the efforts that have been put in place, some have managed to implement a heavy emphasis on the issue at hand (Bouta & Frerks, 2002). When observing this matter regarding women's roles or problems in conflict situations, an organization is often required to consider a more explicit and articulate approach. In turn, this kind of implementation will ensure that more opportunities can be created as a result of taking this matter into account in relation to their policies and concrete activities.

Policy

Over the recent years, the policies implemented in various organizations have been successful regarding creating a dynamic movement about women in armed conflict. As a result, this movement has encouraged a more explicit and specific reference approach towards women (Bouta & Frerks, 2002). For this reason, many organizations have effectively managed to translate women and gender policies into plans of actions which are concrete-based. Moreover, they also constantly monitor and evaluate qualitative/quantitative targets and benchmarks. In turn, women and gender policies are nowadays considered effective and transparent.

Structure, Expertise, and Engagement

Gender structure must always be present within every organization. These structures are usually categorized according to issues that are related to gender policy (Bouta & Frerks, 2002). As such, the process often involves combining intra-organizational and external gender policy. Furthermore, these typical gender structures appoint gender experts and specialized gender experts at both headquarters and field level. In turn, this process ensures that the units and networks within a particular organization are functioning properly. However, despite the effectiveness of this implementation, many challenges have been encountered on women-related gender issues. These challenges tend to range from the field of expertise to lack of gender experts. On the contrary, educating and recruiting specialized gender experts has widely been enhanced in the field of women and armed conflict.

Women and Their Participation in War

Women may serve different roles in war and other types of violent conflict. These roles may include fighters, community leaders, social organizers, and welfare workers among others (Bouta & Frerks, 2002). With the increasing popularity of women's experiences, many women have managed to participate in war-related activities. Conflict can be resolved or ended in many ways. However, very little research has been conducted regarding solutions that might be available for long-term peace engagement. As a result, whether they exist as forms of a negotiated settlement or military victory, women's voices have always remained absent or marginal especially when looking for resolution mechanisms.

Despite this encounter being presented as a common problem, many international organizations have attempted to restore balance by integrating women as peacekeepers. Contrarily, in most cases, these efforts act on a questionable assumption basis (Bouta & Frerks, 2002). The reason for this is because of their limited capacity to affect the changes that might be favorable to women. Furthermore, the majority of women encounter various challenges such as failure to be recognized as active participants. This can range from different roles including providers and caregivers to social and political organizers. Nonetheless, they do not usually receive much support in comparison to men mostly in projects related to post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation.

Feminist Peace and Conflict Theory

This kind of genealogy may often be termed as a hybrid phenomenon. As such feminist peace and conflict theory is comprised of disciplines and methodologies which may vary accordingly (Afshar & Eade, 2004). Feminist interventions tend to have similar approaches when compared to feminist critiques especially in cases that involve conflict resolution. For instance, these interventions may act on a radical basis in which the tone and political goals may differ according to the type of resolution mechanism. Furthermore, the perspectives of feminist peace and conflict theory can be grouped on a continuum basis, whereby, the liberal calls can be included as well as making the emerging field of study and practice visible.

According to various researches that have been carried out, the feminist perspectives on conflict and conflict resolution is considered to create a profound impact in the area of policy-making (Afshar & Eade, 2004). As a result, datasets have been used by researchers to examine what kind of impact gender inequality generates on intrastate conflict. This kind of approach has raised a concern as to why women are always absent when it comes to matters of decision-making levels, especially when negotiation is involved. While women's contribution to conflict resolution and conflict resolution continues to remain the center of focus, many feminists around the globe have continued to embrace the fact that women must have a different perspective on issues related to war and peace (Bouta & Frerks, 2002). For instance, some feminists have used the ideology of non-violent ways of conflict resolution to establish a special relationship that exists within women who contribute to peacemaking and conflict resolution mechanisms.

Conclusion

Despite their inability to receive equal treatment as men, military units have managed to give women equal responsibilities thus having a wider personnel base. Women nowadays are being allowed to participate in a wide range of conflict-related activities. For instance, it may range from media and coverage as journalists to participating in combats. Furthermore, some women have also been actively involved in political activism as a way of ensuring that there are peace and stability. On the contrary, women have achieved a remarkable shift from their perceived domain as nurtures and caregivers to the public sphere, which was originally considered to be men's domain.

References

Afshar, H., & Eade, D. (Eds.). (2004). Development, Women, and War: Feminist Perspectives. Oxfam Publications.

Bouta, T., & Frerks, G. E. (2002). Women's roles in conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction: literature review and institutional analysis. Reed Elsevier Business Information BV.

Kaufman, J. P., & Williams, K. P. (2013). Women at War, Women Building Peace: Challenging Gender Norm. Boulder: Kumarian Press.

Orgeret, K. (2016). Women in War. Challenges and Possibilities for female journalists covering wars and conflicts.