Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, & Conflict, Second Edition - Women and War

Conventional views of the relationship between gender and war suggest that men make war; women make peace. In recent decades, feminist scholarship and empirical reality have challenged prevailing assumptions about war’s relationship to men and women. We have learned that war has profound and unique effects on women, and that war-making relies on women’s participation and support. This article examines the distinct impact that war has on women because of their gender, the various ways that women respond to war and the roles they play, the major debates within this field of study, and, finally, gender inequality as a cause of violence in peacetime and wartime.