Page 129 - JSOM Winter 2019

Insurgent Women

Female Combatants in Civil Wars

Darden JT, Henshaw A, Szekely O. Insurgent Women: Female Combatants in Civil Wars. Washington, DC: Georgetown
University Press; 2019. ISBN 978-1-62616-666-0. 112 pages.
Review by COL (Ret) Warner “Rocky” D. Farr, MD, MPH

o women go to war as members of non-state armed In Columbia, FARC female fighters were first sidelined then
groups? Of course they do. The real questions are why much more active in the peace settlement than women were in
Dand is it different from what drives men to the same any other revolutionary movement.
actions and organizations? It is our current reality that female
combatants exist all over the world. It is also reality that we Conclusions drawn by the authors include:
know relatively little about who they are, what is their moti-
vation to join, their roles within each non-state armed group, 1. There is no single profile of a female combatant.
and what happens to them when group demo- 2. Motivations for joining non-state armed
bilization comes. groups and participating in violence vary
among individual women, just as they do
This book studies female participation in sev- among individual men.
eral different non-state actor armed groups. It 3. Women serve in a broad range of roles
also defines women's involvement in such wars within many contemporary non-state armed
at three different points in the span of conflict groups, including as fighters.
life: recruitment, participation, and resolution. 4. The degree to which non-state actors appeal
It examines in detail the civil war in Ukraine, explicitly to women, especially in recruit-
the Kurdish rebellion in regions of the Middle ment, is an outgrowth of women’s participa-
East, and the civil war in Colombia. It also tion in the group itself.
touches more briefly on women in ISIS, Boko 5. Women willingly participate in non-state
Haram, and Al-Shabaab. armed groups even when these groups are
hostile to or victimize women.
The Ukraine has a long history of female fight- 6. Female combatants face distinct challenges
ers going back to the Ukrainian guerrilla forces, that need to be addressed in peace accords
which fought the Nazi and then the Soviets in and after World and in disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration
War II. It also has a countrywide manpower shortage to deal programs.
with.
This book is a quick read on an issue in play today in the
The Kurdish forces have the highest number of female partic- Middle East. As the authors say, “Female fighters are a truly
ipants, greater than 40%. Kurdish forces in Syria, Iraq, and global phenomenon.”
Turkey vary widely in their number and use of female soldiers,
but many are in leadership positions.

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